Silver
by Sukii-Sama
Summary: Kagome forgot. And then InuYasha burst back into Kagome's life, a stubborn silver haired hooligan that she has never met before. But because he is InuYasha, and she is Kagome, they will find each other again, even if Kagome's world has to be ripped apart in the process.
1. 1 Forgotten Dreams

S-S: Hmm… this idea has been floating around in my head for a while now. So I had to write it! I hope you enjoy the first installment of Silver

I do not own InuYasha.

* * *

_Blood._

_She was stepping in blood. Who's blood? Was it hers? _

_A huge, constantly moving sea of darkness. Surrounding her. Trying to swallow her. Swirling and getting darker and more foul, more disgusting and impure every second. She was standing in the center, but she was supposed to be running but her feet couldn't move and there was no red, and there wasn't any silver- there was supposed to be silver- there had to be silver- why wasn't there any silver?_

_Where is he? She had to find him! _

_A scream. A hand's caught in the darkness and then there's just a flash of black hair and then there's nothing. _

_Another scream, this time a man's. Wind. A lot of wind. So much wind that it should move the world. Buzzing. Beads. No more wind. _

_The darkness billowed in like smoke because it is smoke except it has more substance and can kill. Choking the world with its foulness, but she can breath, but they couldn't, and now they're dead. Why could she breath, and not them?_

_Not fair. _

_She reached to her back and pulled something out, something long and wooden. Her hands must be separate from her mind because they know what to do and she is just too confused to know anything right now. She pulled back a string. A blinding flash of purple light._

_Purple. Why isn't there any silver?_

_And the purple light made the darkness go away for a moment and there's someone at the end of it, someone that her hands must hate because they have notched another arrow. _

_Something is coming towards her. Fast. She let go of the string. The something doesn't stop coming. It's closer now, too close and too late because her arrow has hit the someone but the something must not know that. _

_More blood. _

_And Kagome saw silver. _

With a jolt, Kagome sat up, sweating. Did she have that dream again? She hated that dream. Tired, she ran a hand through her damn hair and tossed the too heavy covers off her. They were stifling in this heat anyways. She glanced at her alarm clock. Seven in the morning. With a sigh, she flopped backwards into bed and stared at the ceiling.

Three years ago, she had asked her mother to place tiny stick on stars on the ceiling, the kind that glowed in the dark. For some reason she couldn't sleep in the darkness. And stars were the best thing to put on her ceiling because sleeping under the stars was just something that she was supposed to do. At least that was how she felt. If she remembered right, she hadn't liked sleeping outside very much when she was younger. She didn't know when she had started liking sleeping under the stars. Maybe four years ago? She didn't know. The past was a little – if not a_ lot_ – blurry.

But the stars, although they may be silly and – as her friends never hesitated to point out – a bit childish, Kagome just couldn't sleep at night without them. They chased away the darkness.

But they couldn't chase away the dreams.

The dreams kept coming back, no matter how many stars were on Kagome's ceiling. Always the same dream. The cloud of darkness. The screams that seemed far too familiar for comfort. And the red and silver. Red and silver seemed like such a good color combination. For some reason, she just knew that red and silver would chase away the darkness of the dream.

But Kagome never saw silver till the end of the dream. And there was too much blood at the end of the dream. Maybe if the silver showed up earlier, then there wouldn't be so much blood at the end. Maybe if the silver showed up earlier, then the people wouldn't scream.

Or maybe the dream wasn't about silver, or stars, or screams. Maybe it just didn't mean anything at all.

If Kagome were a more naïve person, she might just believe that. Actually, she would need more than naivety to ignore the dreams.

She had been born and raised on a shrine. She had lived her whole life listening to her grandfather tell her stories about magic and demons. Although she hadn't believed in any of that when she had been younger, she did now. And she knew that dreams could mean something.

Kagome didn't know when she started believing in the stories. How long ago was it, four years? Maybe more or less, it was hard to say.

Casting one last hateful glare at the clock, she rolled out of bed. School started at a very unreasonable time in the morning, she thought. Tiredly, and admittedly with much groaning, Kagome pulled on her school uniform and shuffled on over to the bathroom.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror with more than a little hatred. The dream had kept sleep away, and instead brought on the dark circles that hovered constantly under her eyes as if daring her to cover them up with foundation. Kagome pulled open a drawer and whipped out a bottle of foundation that seemed to get larger every time she replaced it. After quickly dabbing on the make-up, glaring at her reflection while putting on more make-up – the dark shadows were persistent little buggers -, and yanking a brush through her hair, she deemed herself decent.

Well, she thought, giving another look at the mirror, almost decent. At least she didn't look like she had just woken up.

In general, Kagome was not one to wear jewelry. She found bangles and chokers and such to be – in general – very inconvenient. Her mother could force her into the occasional pair of stud earrings, and there had of course been that 'friendship bracelet' phase. But the one piece of jewelry that Kagome always wore was a pendant.

She never took it off. Not when she had a bath or slept or in gym. If she did remove it, horrible things would happen. Okay, so she didn't actually know that, having never taken it off, but she just _knew_. So even when the purple-pink orb didn't match with what she was wearing, she left it be. It was really a very pretty pendant after all, and who ever gave it to her must have really cared about her because the chain was silver and that jewel must have cost quite a lot. She didn't actually know who had given it to her – she assumed it to be a gift because that price must have been beyond her pocket – she just remembered having it for a long time. Maybe four years or so, although she thought that it might have been smaller before – but that was ridiculous because no matter how purple or pink a stone was, jewels did not grow. The necklace was just there, like it had to be. It was as much a part of her as her eyes were or her hands.

Sweeping a hand across her desk, she flung all her school supplies into her book bag, threw the brown horror over her shoulder, and hurried downstairs. "MOM!" she shouted as she slid into the kitchen, "Did you make me a bento?"

From somewhere upstairs, a muffled, "YES!" ran through the house in reply.

Kagome snatched a box of the counter and ran to the door, shoving the bento in her bag as she went. "I'm going!" she yelled, as she shoved her feet into her shoes.

"Have a nice day at school!" her mom yelled in reply.

With a slight roll of the eyes, Kagome hurried out of the house, grabbing her dusty and much used bicycle as she went. It was a very old bicycle – as bicycles went – but she supposed it must have served some important purpose that had earned it a place to stay at the house, and not an immediate trip to the junkyard.

She sighed a little as she maneuvered her bicycle down the long and steep steps that lead to the shrine. Then she hopped on her bike and pedaled as fast as she could to school, dodging cars with skillful ease on the crowded roads.

* * *

Despite the speed that she had been going for, it seemed like everyone was already inside the school building by the time she arrived. She shoved her bike into one of those silly metal bars and locked it.

"Hey Kagome!" Someone said happily.

She looked up, recognizing at once the cheerful voice of Hojo, "Oh, hello Hojo." She replied quietly. Hojo, by all standards, was a very nice guy, who for some reason kept thinking that Kagome was of a delicate nature. He gave her gifts that were mostly health related and asked her on dates to the movies often. Despite what her friends thought, Kagome was not interested in Hojo. Really, he was nice and all, and would probably make a great boyfriend if Kagome ever gave him the chance but Kagome wouldn't because she already had a boyfri- she meant, because she wasn't interested.

Kagome didn't have a boyfriend. She knew that. So why did she think the opposite?

"-this weekend?"

She blinked and looked up, Hojo's comment jolting her out of her thoughts, "Sorry? What did you ask?" she asked as kindly as she could.

He smiled back at her – did nothing faze him? – and repeated, "I asked if you wanted to go see a movie with me this weekend."

Of course. Like she was reciting from a script, Kagome managed a smile back and said, "Oh, I'm really sorry Hojo, but I can't go this weekend. I have to help my grandfather with some work around the shrine."

"That's okay Kagome, I understand," he said with only the faintest traces of sadness, "Family first after all." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a CD, "Here, this is a meditation tape. Great for relieving stress and it really helps keep illness away!"

Kagome took the disk and smiled again, "Thanks Hojo. I… got to go to class." She said, pushing the CD into her bag and hurrying off in the general direction of the school building, giving him a half-hearted wave as she left.

What did Hojo see in her to make him keep asking her out when it was so clearly obvious – to her at least – that she wasn't interested?

She made it to her first class barely on time, and the rest of the school day didn't go much better. She daydreamed her way through most of her classed, plotting ways to get Hojo to stop asking her out.

Maybe she could accept one of his dates and just make a complete fool of herself in front of him? No, that wouldn't work. He would assume she was sick, or that it was his fault, or that perhaps she didn't like wherever he had taken her. Kagome also debated with the idea of being really rude to him all the time, but she really wasn't that kind of person.

It wouldn't do to right out tell him that she wasn't interested, especially because her friends would assume that she had a very good reason, like already having a boyfriend. That would be particularly awful, considering that Eri had been telling Ayame and Yuki for ages that Kagome used to have a violent two-timing boyfriend – one that she never remembered having at all. Why did her friends think that she once had a boyfriend? And this guy was apparently jealous and still getting over his previous girlfriend while still going out with both of them. Kagome would never fall for a guy like that! Totally not her type.

Maybe if she ignored him, Hojo would go away. Because everyone knew that that was how you got rid of problems.

Kagome kept sighing during lunch.

"Hey Kagome?" Yuka said, waving her hand in front of Kagome's face, "Earth to Kagome!"

Kagome looked up, "Oh hi. What were you talking about?" she hadn't been paying any attention. Instead, she had been pondering the Hojo issue, and occasionally picking up a bit of her bento and eating it slowly.

Eri laughed, "You looked like you were in a trance or something! We were asking what you were doing tomorrow, you know- Saturday?"

"Oh," Kagome said, "Nothing. I was just going to be at home I suppose. Probably doing homework. Why?"

Eri slid a brightly colored mall leaflet over the lunch table, "_True Kokoro_ is having a mega-huge sale on Saturday! _And_ if bring your receipt from Wacdonalds, then you get 20% off everything at _Lolo's Boutique_!"

"Literally the sales of the century!" Ayumi commented cheerfully.

Kagome looked down at the leaflet, it's bright and cheery neon colors burning painfully into her eyes. Well, it was shopping, and she could do with some new clothes… "Okay." She said quietly, "I'll go."

"Yay!" Yuka and Eri cheered.

_Ugg_… she thought as she walked to her last class, _why did I agree to go shopping! I told Hojo I was busy! If he sees me out shopping when I told him I was working at the shrine…_

A girl should not have this kind of stress. As Eri said, stress caused gray hairs. Kagome slumped down in her seat by the window just as the bell rang.

Great… history class. The one subject that she wasn't failing. History was okay, but the only reason that she really didn't like this history class in particular was the teacher. Saiseki-sensei was new to the school, and although he was a great teacher, he had… a fan club. A group of giggling girls that could care less about history would follow him around during the break, and would talk constantly during class. They made it almost impossible to focus on the material being taught.

For the past few months, the class had been studying the Feudal Era, which was not a bad subject, and parts of it came quite easily to Kagome. The folk legends of demons and spirits were the best part of class. Kagome probably liked them because of the spiritual influence of living in a shrine. Yeah, that was probably it.

For the duration of the lesson, she stared out the window, trying to simultaneously ignore the giggling fan girls and figure out a solution to the Hojo problem. She was crossing and double crossing her fingers that she simply didn't run into him.

_Please God, if you're out there, don't let Hojo see me on Saturday! Please! And I promise to be good or whatever it is that I'm supposed to do…_ she thought desperately to the slightly cloudy sky outside the window.

The bell rang, its loud echo accompanied by cheers as students happily departed from their classes and head off towards home and clubs.

Kagome picked up her bag and went to the library.

She liked the library.

It was warm and musty, and it smelled of books. The librarian was an old woman, who mostly sat behind her desk, slowly folding hundreds of paper cranes out of colorful paper that she would hang around the book shelves. The tall rows and rows of books created a sort of maze that was difficult to navigate without a good comprehension of the Dewey Decimal System. Round tables and sets of chairs were placed randomly about the large room, upon which fat lamps would radiate giant pools of light.

Kagome sighed deeply as she entered the library, enjoying the feel of peace and quiet. From her bag, she pulled out a small sheet of paper that listed three titles that she wanted to read. They were books of Feudal history, and although they weren't required by the curriculum, she wanted to add them into her essay. She was fascinated by the subject.

Muttering the titles under her breath, she avoided the librarian and instead walked up the aisles, scanning the spines for titles. After ten aisles, and the cooking section – a particularly messy set of shelves – she finally came across the books she needed.

"Let's see…" she murmured, fingering the spines, "Historical Accounts of Demons and Other Kami… no… Feudal Phantasmagoria… definitely not… Ah!" she said happily as she came across her chosen title, and reached high for the book, balancing on her toes. "Nobunaga and – whoaaaaaaggghhhh!" she screamed as she toppled backwards, a small pile of books falling on her head.

Dazed, and rubbing a painful bump on her head, she sat up, pushing the books off her. "Where was it…?" she muttered, searching for the book that she had tried very hard to retrieve.

A particularly old tome, the cover decorated with a simple ink drawing of a jewel and an arrow, caught her eye. She picked it up and held it close to read the kanji.

"The Legend of the Shikon-no-Tama…"


	2. 2 Shikon no Tama

S-S: Glad people liked this story! If anyone is going to Fanime in San Jose next weekend, I'll be there! On Saturday I'll be going as Tsunade from Naruto, and on Sunday I'll be going as Medusa from Soul Eater.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

"Shikon-no-tama…" Kagome murmured to herself. Jewel of Four Souls. _A power coveted by demons, and even human- Such a jewel should never fall into the hands of- It's been shattered- You have to purify the shard- Midoriko's soul was crystallized and- He's after the jewel fragments!_ Kagome clutched her head in her hands, dropping the book to the ground with a heavy thud. Why were so many voices inside her head! Why couldn't they go away! What did they want! _Where was silver?_

Why did her heart hurt? It was like someone had stabbed it with a white-hot rusty blade and was twisting the wound. Salt in the wound. Salt in her heart. Silver in her head. Her heart hurt. Her head hurt.

Someone coughed behind her, interrupting her mental gears, "Higurashi-san, do you require any assistance cleaning up your… mess?"

She looked up, dropping her hands to the book, and quickly whipping away her tears – when did she start crying? – "Oh, Saiseki-sensei! I'm sorry- I must have fallen…" she looked down and said quietly, "I'll clean this up…"

The history teacher ran a hand through his dark wavy hair, sighing in a way that made Kagome glad that none of the fangirls were present at the moment. He leaned down and picked up a stack of books and begun to return them to their proper places on the shelves.

"No- really- I can-" Kagome tried to protest, scurrying to gather the fallen books.

Saiseki-sensei shook his head and glanced at the title of one of the books, "Studying feudal history Higurashi-san? If I remember correctly, folk legends were not required material for the test."

Kagome shoved the books back into place with an 'oof', "I live in a shrine. This kind of stuff interests me." She offered, "Besides, I wanted to incorporate some demon legends into my paper." She picked up the book that had so sparked her interest earlier. Saiseki-sensei craned his neck to read the title, "Legend of the Shikon-no-Tama?" he read curiously, and his eyes flickered up to Kagome, "You're interested in that legend?"

Nodding, Kagome asked, "Do you know anything about it?" What did he know about this mysterious book that made Kagome's head swim with voices? Was it about the jewel? Did he know anything about demonic legends? Did he know about silver?

"Oh yes," he said, his voice oddly rather flat and detached, "It's a strange old tale, not many believe it either. To accept this story as true, you must first believe in the existence of demons, souls, and other such supernatural entities. As a result, it has fallen off most historians' lists."

Kagome glanced up at him, "Do you believe in it?" Was it real?

He gave a slow nod and replied cryptically, "I believe there is truth in fiction. Although," he gave the book in Kagome's arms a scathing look, "I doubt there is very much truth in that particular account."

Still… it was better than nothing. Even if her history teacher didn't trust the source, Kagome was grasping desperately at straws, her fingers fumbling for scraps of information. This topic had sparked an interest in her. She had never heard voices before now… no. That wasn't right. Kagome _had_ heard voices in her head before. Just snippets mostly. They would sneak into her dreams. Most of the time she could tell when she was dreaming because nothing seemed real (excluding of course, _that _dream), but when a _voice_ spoke, it was far clearer than the dream. She had heard talk about jewels, swords, someone so evil that even his name meant hell.

"Can…" Kagome asked hesitantly, "Can you tell me what you know about the legend of the Shikon-no-Tama?"

Saiseki-sensei said nothing for a cold, silent moment. He stared at her, like he was trying to read her soul, looking for something, before he finally said, "It's a long story. Care to sit down?"

She nodded, and the two walked over to a nearby table. Kagome pulled up a chair and sat down, eagerly looking at her teacher, wanting to hear the story. When he had been seated, he cleared his throat in a very strained manner, and said, "According to legend, about five hundred years ago, there existed a jewel that bestowed immense power on those who held it. The story goes that although the original date of the stone's birth remains lost, it was created an even longer time ago. Can you guess how the jewel was made?" he asked Kagome suddenly.

The look he gave her, it was like he was testing her. Kagome replied with little hesitation, like the answer was buried in her subconscious, "It was made of souls wasn't it?"

"Yes…" Saiseki-sensei confirmed, still giving her a questioning look, "A powerful priestess fought an incredibly powerful demon. When her strength failed her, and she was about to die, she apparently took the demon's soul and her own and crystallized it, leaving behind the Shikon jewel. As you can see, this is quite a fictional tale, and some debate that the jewel was just an ordinary stone." At Kagome's dubious look, he continued, "Anyways, the jewel was supposedly passed on through blood from demon to demon. Then, five hundred years ago, it is said that a half demon slew the priestess that guarded it, and was then killed in return, the jewel being… rather regrettably lost."

Her face fell, "That's it?" Wasn't there supposed to be more? More happened. There was the half demon, yes, but the both him and the priestess were alive, right? No… why did Kagome think that? "Is it possible for such a jewel to have existed?" she asked.

He slowly nodded, "It is not impossible… And I believe that there is much more to that tale." he stood to leave, his expression almost disappointed – like he had been looking for something or like Kagome had failed whatever test he gave her.

As if the thought had been placed in her head, Kagome leaned forward and asked "The priestess who created the jewel- what was her name?" Saiseki-sensei paused. When he looked back, there was a faint smile on his lips, "I believe it was Midoriko." Kagome froze.

_The voices were right_.

She sat there, staring off into space as Saiseki-sensei walked away. How could the voices be right? Since when was Kagome – she had always thought of herself as logical – basing truth off of voices in her head? And since when where the voices _right_? No, she thought to herself, it was impossible for voices to be right. Kagome had probably heard her grandfather mention the story before, and the name had stuck in her head, and she had only just remembered when she had heard the rest of the story. That had to be it.

Why was she so desperate to convince herself that it was nothing?

The voices had an answer for that one too. _Because she didn't want her heart to hurt again._

* * *

Kagome slowly walked home, the fiery red sun beginning its evening decent across the sky. The Legend of the Shikon-no-Tama was in her backpack, begging to be read. She would solve this – she had to. She had to know. What were the voices in her head? What did this have to do with the Shikon-no-tama? And where the heck did she fit into this crazy story?

A muffled meow told her Buyo was at hand. Her cat was a bit troublesome, always wandering off somewhere and causing a mess.

She looked around her, searching for the naughty cat. With a sigh, she came to the conclusion that the stupid cat had gotten stuck in the well house again –the shrine around the well had become an annoying favorite hiding place for the cat.

On Kagome's family shrine, there were a number of spiritual oddities – and some non spiritual ones, like the wombat sized patch of mold in Souta's bathroom that was seemingly impervious to any cleaner. Tucked between ancient swords and thousand year old trees, there was a rather curious well.

Called the Bone-eaters well, the legends claimed that corpses of demons were tossed into the well, only to later disappear. The well was dry as a desert, and water had never deemed the well fit to grace with its presence. In Kagome's mind, lack of water seemed to defeat the purpose of a well. And why dig one if there wasn't any water? When Kagome had been younger, the only one afraid of the – slightly creepy – well house had been Souta. But now… Kagome was terrified of entering the place. When she passed by the tiny wooden shrine, she felt the need to hold her breath and hurry past – like one did by a graveyard. When had she started doing that? Three years ago probably.

The well was scary, but familiarly scary.

That was probably the scariest thing – the familiarity.

Another loud meow alerted Kagome to the fact that Buyo was not a patient cat. Kagome looked around in desperation for another one of her family to go and fetch the silly feline, but to her immense disappointment and growing terror, there was not one around save her.

"Buyo!" she hissed, trying to get the stupid cat to come out of the well on his own, "Buyo! Come out and I'll give you a treat! BUUUUYYOOO!"

He meowed loudly, but did not come out. Okay, so he was stuck. Great, now Kagome had to go in and save him. This was horrible.

"Okay…" she said to herself, "Everything's going to be okay…"

Slowly, she inched her way towards the shrine, with each step the feeling of dread in her gut only increased, almost to the point of nausea. She reached out and cautiously touched the door handle, shivering. With a moaning creak that sounded sickeningly foreboding, the door slid open, and Kagome shuddered and felt the urge to turn around and flee.

The shrine was how she always remembered it.

The wood was cold and smelled of damp and mildew. A small wooden ladder only a few steps deep beckoned her down into the earthen area where the well was. "Buyo…" Kagome whispered into the dark room, "Come _on_ Buyo…"

A swish of a tail and then the fat cat stood next to the well, a stubborn expression on his face with the clear air of 'I'm not budging till you get me'. To accentuate his point, he flopped down onto the ground. Kagome's stomach fell. Whatever was down there could stay down there, she thought she would die if she went in any further.

"_Please_ Buyo!" she begged, still clinging to the door as if it would stop her from getting sucked in.

The cat meowed and glared at her.

She let go of the door handle, slowly, finger by finger letting go of her life line. Step by tiny baby step, Kagome walked to the ladder. Her foot slid across the wood and dropped onto the first step. Kagome could hear her heart thudding in her ears as she descended.

When she stood at the bottom, gazing at the well, it was like everything else had disappeared. Buyo, her fear, nothing mattered. There was just her and the well. The old wooden well, the top covered with wood, nailed in furiously by her grandfather three years ago, plastered up with old seals and sutras, like some evil thing that had been condemned to chains.

She walked towards it, pulled by some desire in her, and placed her hand on the top.

Although her eyes were blind to it, the jewel around her neck – just for a fraction of a second – _glowed_.

A wave of calmness and peace washed over Kagome gratefully. Feeling completely different and utterly at peace, she gave a relieved sigh, turned away from the well, picked up Buyo, and walked out of the shrine.

Although she was determined to put the silly matter behind her, fate was against her in the form of her own wretched curiosity. The topic was brought up over dinner.

Over a nice meal of grilled pork and rice, her grandfather had been keeping up a steady stream of conversation; complaining about his back problems, and how he simply couldn't do most of the work around the shrine these days, and how young help was so hard to get, and how there was so much cleaning that needed to be done on the well-

"Hey grandfather?" Kagome piped up, a piece of pork halfway to her lips, "The well…" her entire family stiffened, and exchanged worried looks – even Souta, who never seemed to be worried – "I was wondering…" she said, "If the well is dry, then why do you keep it sealed up? What's at the bottom of it? Is there something-"

Her mother cut her off, "Kagome dear, let me clear away your dishes." Kagome looked down at her plate. She still had a third of her pork left, but she nodded anyways. She tried again, "Grandfather, why-"

"Hey hey, Sis, can you help me with my math homework later this weekend?" Souta asked, overly eager for math homework.

Even Souta? "Sure, I guess." She replied.

What was up with her family? What was up with the well? What was up that that legend that she read about? And what the hell was up with her!


	3. 3 A Pleasant Twang

S-S: I am so glad so many people like this story! I checked into my email this morning and my inbox was swamped with favorites and alerts and reviews! Seriously, that kind of feedback is what I appreciate most of all. It motivates me and adds a smile to my face in the morning. Thanks sooo much!

Remember to look for me at Fanime!

BTW: I own Suki, Ichida, and Tsubaki. Steal them at your own risk because they're copyrighted people!

To everyone that asked a question; all will be answered in time… be patient and keep reading!

I really don't own InuYasha, but I do own a Kirara plushie. Take that lawyers.

* * *

"I didn't dream last night~ I didn't dream last night~" Kagome hummed happily to herself as she got out of bed late_ late_ Saturday morning – it was Saturday and therefore it was legally required to sleep in.

Despite the incredible weirdness of yesterday, Kagome's sleep had gone completely uninterrupted by dreams of any sort. Not even the Hojo problem reared its handsome face in her subconscious. She had finally gotten good sleep. After such a relaxing night all she wanted to do today was relax.

But she had to go shopping with her friends and… avoid Hojo. This was going to be trickier than she first thought. She cut her humming off with a groan and a sigh as she tried to think through how today would go. Assuming her friends didn't invite Hojo, then she would be okay, but if they did, then she might have to suddenly ditch them. And if she ran into Hojo on the streets, then she would have to… hide. She would have to run and hide like the fugitive from romance that she was.

Her phone vibrated ominously on her bedside table. "Please don't let it be Hojo…" Kagome prayed before looking at the test message glowing on the screen. She sighed in relief when the caller id was displayed as Eri and the message was; _Meet school by 11. Yuka has swim practice till then. C u._

"Thank you God!" Kagome whispered, clutching her phone to her chest gratefully. She checked the clock, 10:37. No Hojo crisis would happen today!

Her face lightened magically and she rushed over to the bathroom to get ready. She checked her reflection in the mirror and her smile grew ever wider. The black circles were beginning to disappear! Miracles really did happen after all! The cold water she splashed on her face helped her complexion as much as the make-up did. Just a swoosh of eye liner, a dash of mascara, and a few yanks of a brush later, she was done.

"Perfect!" she said happily to her reflection, admiring her job from every angle. She actually looked good. Not like _decent_ good, but _good _good.

She rushed over to her closet and pulled out everything that wasn't school uniforms. Outfit by outfit, she held up the article of clothing in front of a mirror and decided if it looked good. After rejecting last year's prom dress, trashed denim overalls, hippie bell bottoms, and a bright neon lime green shirt, she finally settled on an outfit for the day.

A short – decently short, not prostitute short – black skirt that flared nicely, a long sleeved blue shirt that had a high necklne, covering her necklace from view, and knee high boots. Shove everything else she needed into a purse, and _voila_!

Kagome bounded down the stairs with a spring in her step. She slid into the living room where Souta was playing video games – something involving aliens, laser blasters, and an unrealistic amount of CGI blood – and her mother was cutting coupons out of the newspapers. "Hey mom!" she called on her way past, "I'm going out shopping with some friends, I'll be back later!"

Her mother looked up and said in that responsible tone that adults always use, "Okay Kagome dear, remember to be safe."

"Yeah yeah yeah…" Kagome muttered, shutting the front door. She stretched her arms up into the air like she was trying to touch the sun. What a great day! Sunny and clear and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather for avoiding Hojo. Creepy wells and mysterious legends were not going to rain on her parade today!

She practically _leaped_ down the tall steps in front of the shrine, jumped onto her bike and peddled off into the distance like a cowboy riding off into the sunset.

She soon pulled up in front of the school and hopped off her bike. With all the caution of a spy, she sneakily made her way to the bike rack, keeping an eye out of Hojo. No sign of the target. She locked her bike into place and checked her watch, 10:53. Yuka would still be in swim class. And Eri and Ayumi wouldn't be here for ages.

Slowly walking around the school with the intention of maybe finding the pool and chatting to Yuka, she riffled around in her handbag for her phone. And her hand hit something hard and flat. Curious, she pulled out the object.

It was the Legend of the Shikon-no-Tama. What was that doing in her purse? She hadn't packed it, had she! When on earth did it get in her bag?

It was like the book wanted to be read – no, that wasn't possible, books didn't want to be read or not. And she didn't even notice when she put it in her purse…

What was going on with her?

_Twang_.

Kagome looked to her right.

_Thwack_.

It was the archery range. Her school had always had an archery club, and although they weren't very good and got flattened at most competitions, the school board had kept the club open. Kagome supposed that it was a thing to be proud of – oh look, we have an archery club which somehow makes us more posh.

Archery wasn't the school's biggest accomplishment, and so while the football and baseball clubs had gotten bigger fields and more equipment, the archery club had stayed the same. The range was basically one long outdoor hall, the targets on one end. Only half the hall had a floor, and the wood had been scrubbed about fifty times too many so that it shined in a very, very dull sort of way. The round targets had been punctured by arrows so much that they were basically heaps of straw onto which sheets of paper painted with bull's eyes had been stuck.

Only three people were in the archery range, Kagome noted as she looked in, so it must not be an actual practice session. Probably three members practicing on their own time – perhaps for an upcoming competition, Kagome didn't know. The girls – archery having been deemed early on in the school's history to be a very girly sport – wore the standard archery uniform that consisted of black hakama and a simple white haori. A girl with mousy short reddish orange hair was shooting very badly and kept missing the red center of the target, while the taller girl with straight black hair tried to correct her and getting rather annoyed in the process. The oldest of the three stood next to them, her very long dark purple hair kept up in a ponytail.

Kagome couldn't resist; she stepped inside the room, hovering right next to the door, watching the scene.

With another _twang_, the redhead released another arrow that lodged into the target about a foot away from the center. "Uwah!" she cried, looking horribly worried, "I missed again! Why?"

The black haired girl sighed and poked her in the shoulder, "You're doing it _wrong_ Ichida. You have to turn your body more. Be more streamlined in your stance."

"Exactly," The oldest girl said, "It's all in the stance! Shoulders out! Legs farther apart! Stretch the bow like an extension of your soul!"

Ichida, the red head, tried to move her body like the other two told her to, and then pulled back the bow again. _Twang!_ Ten inches from center.

The purple haired girl sighed, "Well, I suppose it's a bit of an improvement," she grinned in a slightly sadistic and creepy manner. "Let's use a different method of teaching," Quick as a flash, she used her own bow to swipe Ichida's legs out from under her, "How about Shock Therapy?"

"Yaaa!" Ichida screamed as she hit the floor, "Oww…" she rubbed her back with a grimace marring her face, "Meanie Meanie Suki! Meanie!" she said – in a very childish manner – to the oldest girl.

Suki sighed dramatically and with much sarcasm, "I suppose kendo club does horrible things to a person, I being no exception."

The girl with black hair nodded in agreement, "You never were the same after those three weeks. Although neither was the kendo club if I recall…"

"They never knew what hit 'em." Suki agreed happily, clearly proud of her accomplishment.

Ichida stood up and cried, "Not the time! I have to get better!" she clasped her hands together – rather a difficult feat considering she was still holding her bow – and begged, "_Please_ teach me Tsubaki!" she implored the black haired girl in an over-the-top sort of way.

"Alright." Tsubaki said, notching an arrow into her own bow, "Watch and learn Ichida. This is how pro's do it." She pulled back the string and took careful aim before letting go of the arrow. With a _thwack_, the arrow sunk deep into the straw target, less than an inch from the bull's eye.

Ichida looked like she had stars in her eyes and was crying at the same time, "Woah! You did it so perfectly!"

Kagome bit her lip as she watched. She didn't know how she noticed it, but Tsubaki hadn't done it perfectly. Her posture and stance had been off, and she held the bow wrong. It wasn't a major difference, but it was definitely impairing her shooting.

"Um," she cleared her throat, causing all three heads to turn, "Sorry but, you did it wrong." She said nervously, "You're holding the bow too roughly… and…"

The three of them exchanged looks. "All right then, you show us." Suki said, holding out a bow – it wasn't a threat, more of a challenge.

Kagome walked up to them and picked up the bow. It felt solid in her hands, powerful even, like with it she could do anything. The bow felt right. Not scary like the well, or painful like the book, but more like a part of Kagome. She picked up an arrow and notched it into the string. How did she know what she was doing? She had never taken archery lessons before? And yet she knew.

She was aware of three sets of eyes on her as she raised the bow, but she sort of ignored that, like just a part of the background that didn't really matter at the moment. She pulled back the string and aimed. Slowly, something began to happen. She could feel power gathering on the arrow, swelling and growing until it would become huge and deadly. If she gathered all that energy and then released the arrow, she had no doubt in her mind that it would destroy not only the target, but perhaps the whole range.

Just when she was about to release the arrow-

"Hey Kagome!" Yuka said cheerful as she peeked her head around the door, "I'm all done with my swim class so- Oooohhh! I didn't know you were on the archery team!"

Kagome dropped the bow before handing it back to Tsubaki with a bow, "Sorry, I have to go!" she said to the three before hurrying over to Yuka.

"Hey wait!" Suki said before Kagome could leave, "What's your name?" she asked.

Kagome bowed again, "I'm Higurashi Kagome. I'm sorry for interrupting you." In response to her introduction, the redhead smiled and pointed to herself, "I'm Kyoushin Ichida! Class B! Age 17! Heig-"

"Shut up Ichida." Tsubaki said calmly, "I'm Yozeme Tsubaki. Nice to meet you."

Suki grinned – her grin was never really free of its sadistic look –, "And I'm Suki. Pleasure to meet you and all that." Kagome waved, "It was great meeting all of you. I really am sorry by the way."

Suki waved it off, "You worry too much. See you around Kagome."

Kagome waved one last time and Yuka pulled her out of the room. The two girls hurried to the front of the school where Eri and Ayumi were.

Yuka waved, "I found Kagome!" she said cheerfully, "You'll never guess who she just met!"

The four of them began to walk towards Ayumi's car that was parked badly in the school lot. Kagome looked down, confused. What was so odd about meeting those girls from the archery club?

Eri sighed and crossed her arms across her chest, "We won't guess, so just tell us!" she huffed at Yuka. As if savoring the moment, Yuka paused for effect and then revealed, "She just met, and had a pleasant conversation with, _Suki's group_."

Both Eri and Ayumi stopped in their tracks, jaws open wide. "No. Way." Eri said quietly, stressing each word. "Seriously?" Ayumi asked, "And they didn't yell at her or fight her or…?" Yuka nodded and replied, "They introduced themselves. Politely."

"Wow." Eri awed, clearly amazed by something that Kagome had done, "Kagome, you have got a skill. How did you do that?"

What on earth did they mean? Kagome hadn't _done_ anything – except find out that she should pursue archery and perhaps made a huge fool of herself. "I don't get it," she asked, shrugging, "Why are you guys acting like it's such a big deal?"

Ayumi pressed her car keys and unlocked the vehicle. She got into the front seat to drive, while Eri sat next to her and Kagome clabbered into the back with Yuka. Ayumi was the only one of them who had a driver's license, although all of them were good behind a wheel, she had been the only one who actually cared enough to go through with the testing. Her parents had given Ayumi the small white car as a congratulations present, and so dooming her to be the chauffeur whenever the four of them wanted to go anywhere.

Eri continued, leaning over the back of the seat to be closer to Kagome's face, "Those three… are a legend at school…" she said, like beginning an epic tale, "All three of them transferred at the same time, and they are all famous, or infamous, in Chuuou High. Ichida's the youngest, and although she might act like a child, I've heard that she once sent one of the football's quarterbacks flying with only one finger. Then there's Tsubaki. She's probably a genius or something, scoring 100's on every test. But people say that she comes from a family of ninjas and knows fifty different ways to kill you with only her bare hands. And lastly… there's Suki."

"She's the scariest of them all!" Yuka interjected, shivering in the seat next to her.

Kagome was still confused, "What's so scary about her? She seemed really nice, if a little sadistic…"

"A little!" Eri exclaimed dramatically, "She's known as the terror of Chuuou High! She beat every single member of the kendo club in a single day! Those who watched her fight said it was like seeing a monster slaughter its prey. And her family is a mystery. Nobody knows where she lives, nobody knows if she has a family. I heard Rika from class C swear that Suki killed her parents in the middle of the night by tearing their hearts out."

Kagome coughed, interrupting the spooky atmosphere, "And did anybody see them do this? Did the police confirm any of this? It just sounds like a bunch of rumors Eri…"

Eri waved her hands in denial, "No, no! I swear all of it's true! They're evil!"

Kagome nodded sarcastically, "Riiiiight…"

"Okay you guys, shut up!" Ayumi said from the driver's seat, "We're there!"


	4. 4 Locked Around My Neck

S-S: A great big hug and thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love you guys!

So so sorry that I went so long without updating. I was studying for finals. It almost killed me, but I finished. I promise I'll update faster.

I don't own InuYasha, cross my heart and hope to die- no, I don't hope to die, maybe 'hope to be told off and given a proper scolding'?

* * *

Eri practically leaped out of the car, her purse banging against her hip as she buzzed with excitement, "Come on come on come on! Clothes don't buy themselves you know!" she said happily as she pulled Ayumi out of the driver's seat.

Kagome and Yuka clambered out of the back seat, stretching in the sunshine. It was the perfect time of day to go shopping. All the traffic caused by those poor souls that had to work on Saturday had already dissipated, leaving the streets pleasantly full, but not congested and impossible to use. Shoppers, businessmen, and parents with their whiny children walked the sun-baked concrete sidewalks. The chatter of people and the noise of cars had contributed to the babbling roar of noise that added character to the streets.

Taking a deep breath of the city air, Kagome sighed in happiness, "You know Eri, I'm glad you made me come today."

Eri nodded in agreement, "Of course. And you got to meet the evil trio." she said, slinging her arm over Kagome's shoulder. Kagome twitched and immediately shrugged out from under her arm, "Rumors rumors. Didn't teachers ever tell you that gossip is petty and mean?"

"It's not gossip!" Yuka interjected, her hands firmly on her hips – the picture of sternness – , "It's school fact! Just because you can't see reason… Speaking of," her face took on a dangerously meddlesome approach that gave Kagome the sudden desire to write her will and run as fast as she could, "Have you accepted Hojo yet? Seems like he really likes you…"

Why did she have to ask? And the day had been going so well too. Gulping nervously, Kagome began, "Well… uh… he… asked me out yesterday…" Eri and Yuka immediately leaned in towards Kagome, their hands on their hips for the 'serious' effect. "What!" Eri yelled, "And what did you say!"

Kagome looked down, "I said no. Again."

"Why?" Yuka whined, "Hojo's great! He's cute, smart, nice, really kindhearted, the perfect man, and," she gave Kagome a pointed stare, "and totally _not _a delinquent."

Sighing deeply, Kagome knew that this was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that her friends brought up that topic. For some reason – God knows Kagome hadn't a clue why – her friends were under the distinct impression that Kagome had once dated some delinquent that was horribly violent and two-timed her. Apparently her friends didn't even know who the guy was – they swore Kagome had never said – but they were sure that Kagome was head over heels for him.

Personally, Kagome thought they were completely bonkers. She would never ever not in a million years fall for a guy like that! And she would dump him the moment he started two-timing her. Perhaps her friends had been listening to too much gossip. Really, even if a girl is a bit scary, _no one_ rips out their parent's hearts.

"Yeah, I know…" she said quietly, "But honestly, I'm just not interested. Now can we please drop the subject?"

Yuka grinned, "Touchy, aren't you? But all right…" she looked up at where a very tired Ayumi was standing. "Hey Ayumi," Yuka asked, "You okay? You've been really quite."

"I… need… coffee…" Ayumi muttered, "Up since… two in the morning… tests are evil…." she looked up groggily, her eyes locked on a Starbucks that lay in the distance as if it were the fountain of life, "Cooooffffffeeeeeee…."

Yuka sighed, "I should have known…" She pulled Ayumi's arm over her shoulder and helped her girl over to the coffee shop, looking like Ayumi had broken a leg or something and was having trouble walking. Over her shoulder, she shouted, "You two get started without us! Ayumi might be a while! I'll meet you _True Kokoro_!"

"'Kay!" Kagome called, waving back. Before she could walk off, Eri grasped her firmly around the arm and pulled her off down the street, "Let's go Kagome! Shopping awaits!" she said in her happy sing-song voice that did not fit the picture of her dragging Kagome like some sort of creeper.

Just a block away, the tall, mutli-floored building stood towering in front of the two girls. Painted in a blank, yet cool, shade of silvery-white, the store radiated beautiful clothing, fancy accessories, and far more heavy jewelry than was practical. Inside the tall and wide windows that shined like they had just been polished, simple mannequins posed suggestively, decked out in the store's most expensive ensembles. Above the double glass doors, a glowing sign read '_True Kokoro_' in fancy flowering cursive.

When Kagome and Eri stepped closer to the doors, they slid open with a cheerful 'ding', allowing the two entrance. Racks of clothes greeted them, the selections arranged in no particular style at all, but somehow any experienced shopper could sort through the clothes to find a piece that suited them. From the smooth floor decorated with sparkles, to the high white ceiling with glittering crystal chandeliers hanging at random intervals, the whole store was designed with a cheerful, yet undeniably cool approach.

Kagome thought it looked a bit silly. As Eri squealed and looked around, she bent to examine a shirt hanging on a nearby rack. Fabric like that was really too thin to offer any protection from the cold or wet, and it would get ripped in no time, Kagome thought. Why did stores sell stuff like this? It wasn't even that fashionable. Well, Kagome glanced over at Eri, at least her friend liked it.

"Kagome, you have _got_ to check this out!" Eri squealed, holding up a pink halter top with far too many sequins – and frills- for Kagome's taste. Eri held it up to her body and rushed over to a mirror to examine the look, "This is _sooo cute_!" she exclaimed happily.

Sighing, Kagome nodded along with Eri and pretended that she too loved the shirt. When Eri got into moods like this, it was best to just go along and agree with her. As Kagome knew all too well from Eri's dreaded karaoke phase, it was impossible to talk her out of it while she was in the mode.

So when they were almost finished, the two girls had two very different stacks of clothing. Eri had picked out dresses and skirts and tops with frills and bows. Kagome had gotten a few pairs of jeans, a pair of –surprisingly stylish – cargo pants, and a long sleeve shirt with the words 'Sorry, I took an arrow to the knee'. Then, as they were on the jewelry section, Ayumi and Yuka arrived.

"Eri! Kagome!" Yuka called, waving her arm in the air like a flag, Ayumi chugging a mug of coffee that was bigger than her face.

Kagome waved cheerfully at the two as they bounded – or in Ayumi's case got dragged – over. Yuka fawned over the jewelry that was laid out in large racks, "Ooooohhhh! I have to get this bracelet!" she squealed, picking up some big gold thing that was bigger than Ayumi's mug of coffee.

"Oh that is so cute!" Eri chimed in, peering over Yuka's shoulder to get a look at the shiny bracelet. She leaned down and picked up a thick choker with pink rhinestones on it, "Oh Kagome! You have got to try this on!" she said happily, rushing over to Kagome.

She gave her a tug towards a nearby mirror, "Come on and try this on! My judgment has never yet been wrong!" Kagome looked uneasily at the choker. Not only was it clearly not her style – what was Eri thinking? – but she didn't want to take off her current necklace.

Kagome waved the choker away and touched the stone that sat in the hollow of her throat, "I'm good with what I got, thanks."

Eri rolled her eyes, "Just try it! I know you'll love it!" she reached towards Kagome's neck with the offending choker in hand.

"No, really Eri!" Kagome said with much more force. She didn't like this. She was getting panicky again and she didn't know why. She couldn't not take off her necklace! Eri's hand got too close to the clasp on her necklace for her liking. Blindly, she raised her hand and whacked Eri's away.

The choker clattered to the ground, breaking into three pieces. One of the rhinestones rolled around on the shiny floor before hitting Eri's shoe.

Kagome looked up at Eri's shocked face. Her friend's hand was red where Kagome had hit her.

_No._

Kagome burst into tears and rushed away from her friends, heading to god knows where. The people in the store that had been peacefully shopping stopped and stared, casting strange looks her way. She could have swore she heard one man make a remark about how mental teenagers were these days. She dashed through the back of the store and hid in one of the dingy bathroom stalls.

Looking the small swinging door, she climbed up onto the top of the toilet seat and hugged her knees to her chest. What had she done? Why had she done it? What was wrong with her?

She hadn't wanted Eri to touch her necklace. At the time, that was the only thought that ran through her head. She couldn't take off her necklace. Eri was trying to. Conclusion her mind had made: hit Eri. Even trying to justify what she had done left her stomach tying itself into complicated knots.

Kagome must be going crazy. She was hitting her friends over a necklace! It was just a stupid necklace of no importance whatsoever and it was costing her her friends! She reached her hand to her necklace. Kagome was going to rip it off her neck and flush it down the toilet. That was what she had to do.

But as soon as she touched the smooth stone, she couldn't do it. She just couldn't part with that necklace. Something must be wrong with her. She curled into as tight a ball as she could manage and began to cry again. She wondered if this was like being addicted to drugs. You know there's something wrong and you know it's hurting the people around you but you just can't stop. What was this necklace doing to her?

"Hey… Kagome?" someone called, tapping on the bathroom stall door.

Kagome looked nervously under the door. Flip flops with Hawaiian flowers. It was Yuka. "Yeah?" she called, her voice cracking.

Yuka seemed nervous, "Come on out. Eri and Ayumi and I paid for the broken necklace and Eri's not mad at all. They're outside, waiting for you."

Kagome almost burst into tears again. But she stood up and wiped the tears off her face and stepped out of the stall. Yuka smiled, "Let's go." she said happily, grabbing Kagome's hand and helping her out of the bathroom.

Yuka pulled Kagome through to the front of the store, ignoring the weird looks that people sent her. They left through the wide glass doors, and Kagome felt better once she took a deep breath of fresh air. Eri bounded up to Kagome, and with a painful pang she noticed that her friend's hand was still red.  
Hey Kagome, you feeling better?" Eri asked – her voice completely free of a grudge.

Ayumi chimed in, "I told her how you had gotten so _stressed_ over studying for your last test. Those can get pretty nasty."

They had covered for her. They had paid for the damage and given her an excuse and hadn't made her explain herself. They had just… known that she hadn't meant it and accepted that stuff happened. For all their meddling, they really were good people in their hearts. Kagome felt like crying again, "Eri… I'm really sorry-" she tried to apologize.

"Don't worry about it," Eri assured her, waving it off with a cheerful smile on her face, "I'm over it."

"But I really am-" she tried again to get in her apology. "Kagome…" Eri said firmly, "I'm over it. You were stressed out, it happens. Chill! Come on, let's go do something else, I'm done with shopping."

A small smile tentatively crept its way onto Kagome's face. Yuka nodded, "Oh yeah, how about we go to one of the karaoke bars? I know Eri used to love those!" she said slyly, nudging Eri in the shoulder.

Ayumi shook her head firmly in denial, "No no no. Karaoke is so boring. And we _don't_ want Eri dunk," a round of 'hear, hear' from all – even Eri - , "Ohh… I know! Let's go see a movie!" her face split into a grin, "I love movies! _And _there's a theater just around the corner! Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Eri agreed with a smile, "How does a movies sound to you Kagome?" she asked. Kagome nodded, "Sure. Movies sound great."

With a cheer Ayumi lead the group around the corner of the store, towards where the theater was. Kagome was smiling, happy at how this day seemed to be turning out okay after all, despite the tricky situation in the middle. They were going to see a movie, and then go out to lunch, and then she would head home and round off any pesky weekend homework that she happened to have. Things were going be-

Oh crap.

Kagome froze as her eyes honed in on the movie theater that stood about a block away. Underneath the luminescent signs and next to the bright movie posters, standing in line without a care in the world, was Hojo.

Hojo. Of course he would be there, he had asked her to go to a movie with him! Now he was returning the tickets! Why hadn't Kagome thought of that? This called for emergency action. She reached out and grabbed Yuka's hand, "Ummm actually, I just realized- we shouldn't go see a movie today." She rushed out, the words sounding confused in her mouth.

Yuka paused, "Huh? Why not?" she asked.

Quickly spouting the first thing Kagome thought of, she managed to say, "Well I realized that there are only horror films showing today and I don't want to see guts and gore so…"

"Well if you say so Kagome…" Yuka said with a puzzled frown, "I could have sworn that there were some good romances in theaters but…" she turned to Eri and Ayumi who were already walking towards the theater, "Hey!" she yelled to get their attention, "Kagome doesn't want to see a movie! Let's head to lunch instead!"

Eri and Ayumi turned and began to walk back, but to Kagome's utter horror… Hojo, far ahead in the cue, turned towards the source of the noise. And he started walking. Right. Towards. Kagome.

With a pained 'eep!' Kagome dropped Yuka's hand and did the only thing that came to her whirling mind. She ran for it. Leaving her friends puzzled and confused behind her, Kagome bolted around the corner like a frightened rabbit.

She headed past the glittering_ True Kokoro_ and dodged the line coming out of the Starbucks next door. People and cars past her bye in a blur. Kagome just had to get away before Hojo caught up with her, and then her friends would be involved and… oh it would be awful!

A mother with a baby and a sour expression shoved her out of her way. Kagome rushed past the businessman in the suit juggling two briefcases and a memo. She hurried past the young man on a motorcycle that was going over the speed limit. And she was about to hurry into a store to avoid Hojo when she heard the noise.

There was a loud plethora of BANGS and BOOMs and other noises that suggested there was some sort of crash going on.

Ignoring the piece of her that told her to keep going, Kagome did what any other person witnessing a large mess would do, stop and stare.

It was the young man on a motorcycle.

He had crashed his shiny black bike into the back of a grey moving van that had seen better days. Although his jeans seemed a bit ripped and his leather jacket a bit scuffed up, the rider didn't seem altogether to be injured. Rather confusing, seeing as the front half of his bike was crumpled like paper against the back of the van, and there really wasn't any sort of safety on motorcycles that could buffer a crash like that.

The driver was screaming and yelling about how he could have gotten killed, and how this was going to cost him, and how this wouldn't be the last the rider would hear about this… but the rider was completely ignoring him. Instead, he hurried over to where Kagome was standing.

He couldn't be walking to her, could he? Kagome didn't know anyone who rode a motorcycle, did she? No, she didn't, she was sure of it.

He tugged off his helmet, revealing stunning silver hair that fell past his shoulders in an unruly mess. He was wearing a hat on underneath the helmet, a baseball cap that was put on backwards. When he came to a stop in front of the much confused Kagome, he stared at her with strange golden eyes, like he couldn't believe she was there.

Then his face broke into a relieved grin, "Kagome!"


	5. 5 Clear and Foggy

S-S: I know you guys just _loved_ having a cliffhanger last chapter *gets murdered*

Yeah, sorry again about taking a while to upload this chapter. Life just got... weird. Really weird. So most of you may not know, but my dad has quite a history. He married my mom, divorced her, almost married this woman called Terra, but she left him the night before the wedding, then he married this woman called Marina (he was 47, she was 21, and from Ukraine). Recently he divorced her. Now, he's marring another woman. Her name is Teresa. He's 53, she's 28. And she's from Turkmenistan, he met her online, and he's only met her in person a few times. She just moved in yesterday. Life… is fucked up.

I don't own InuYasha, I just like messing around in Takahashi's sandbox.

* * *

Kagome froze.

The first emotion she felt was – surprisingly enough – disbelief. She didn't know why, but the very first thought that ran through her mind was clear and bright, and in comparison all her other thoughts seemed slow. As she looked at the man's shocked face, the very first thing she thought was, '_how can he be here?'_

Then as she blinked the confused thought away, her slower, drabber and more normal thoughts returned. Who was he? How did he know her? She had never seen him before – or had she…?

He was familiar in a terrifying way, like she didn't want to think about him too much because if she did something bad would happen, like if she took off her necklace. Why did she think about the necklace in relation to this man? Why did the two seem to fit into the same picture?

"…Excuse me?" Kagome managed to choke out.

He looked slightly confused, "Huh? Kagome, what are you doing here? I thought you were dead!"

'_I thought you were dead!_' the clear thoughts screamed through her mind before they got shoved out of Kagome's consciousness. "Who are you?" she asked as politely as she could, "Have you been talking to one of my friends?" Was this just some sort of joke? She hated to think that it might be some kind of prank – no. She _wanted_ it to be nothing more than that, she realized, because if she knew this man then horrible things would happen, would have happened, were already happening. She didn't know. Her when's were mixed up.

The grin that was on his face suddenly seemed fake and plastered on, like his face simply hadn't caught up to the emotions and thoughts that he was presently feeling, "You… don't know who I am?" he stumbled through the words.

She shook her head reluctantly, and the simple gesture seemed to shatter him. "Kagome, what's wrong with you? How can you not know me? Oh, is it the year?" he looked down at his watch, "No, the year is right… you should know me by now, and you look older… So how come you don't know me?"

"I- I don't understand what you're talking about," Kagome sputtered. What did he mean, 'she should know him by now'? And 'the year is right'? How could someone get confused about what year it was? And she wasn't old!

The sadness and confusion spread past his eyes as his face fell, "Kagome," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. He grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes like he was trying to look into her soul and find his answer, "Tell me you know who I am." he demanded, like he couldn't possibly bear it if her answer was otherwise.

Kagome's clear thoughts were screaming inside her mind, '_I know you! I know you!'_. She didn't know him. "Who are you?" she asked, trying to shrug out of his firm grip.

"Kagome! It's me!" He yelled, shaking her roughly by the shoulders as if he could shake thoughts into her. "How can you not know who I am!"

She looked nervously around, the crowd that had formed from the traffic accident was growing, and people were giving her and this man strange looks. She pushed his hands off her shoulders, "Sorry, but I really don't know who you are." she apologized, without even knowing what she was apologizing for, an apology just seemed to be in order from the broken look on the man's face.

He stood there, stunned. Kagome took the chance to run off again, hurrying away from the crowd. As she looked back over her shoulder, she could see that the car driver was yelling profanities at the man. But the man just stood there like he couldn't believe what was happening. She shook her head to try and clear her mind. How did this stranger know who she was? He acted like they were good friends or something, but she had never seen the man before in her entire life! She hurried through the crowd, any thoughts of going back to her friends, or even of Hojo, all flew from her mind, tossed out by the sudden arrival of this familiar stranger.

Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she looked behind her. Satisfied that no one was following her – be it on lookers from the crash scene or the stranger – she continued down the smaller and less occupied road at a far more pleasant pace.

The calmer atmosphere allowed her to think more clearly. What would she do for the rest of the Saturday? She didn't want to go back to shopping, for fear of running into Hojo. She didn't even want to re-trace her steps, for fear of running into the stranger. Maybe she should just find a nice tea shop and hang out in a comfy chair for a while until she could call her mom and ask for a ride.

She kicked a stone out of her way, shoving her hands into her purse to grab her phone. Her fingers bumped against the Shikon-no-Tama book that she had accidently packed that morning. Curious, she pulled it out and stared at the simple and worn cover. Why had she packed it? She had forgotten all about it when she had stumbled into the archery range that morning.

The book was working its way into her head, like her subconscious was desperate to read it. Her fingers traced the simple inked illustrations, working their way over the arrow and then onto the round circle of a jewel. Salt in the wound. Salt in her heart. Silver in her head. Her heart hurt. Her head hurt.

Because she could not bear to look any longer, she gently placed the book back into her purse, her touch as light as if the book was a precious stone.

"Hey Kagome."

She looked up to meet the amber eyes of the stranger. He was leaning against his motorcycle, his hands shoved in his pockets, like he was trying to come off as casual, but the stern and worried expression on his face ruined any effect. He continued in a more scathing tone, "If your name really is Kagome. You smell like her, but you might be someone else in disguise. Normally I can tell, but it has been five hundred years since I last smelled Kagome. I could be wrong." He commented, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing.

Kagome lost him. She was completely clueless. "Umm…" she struggled to wrap her head around things. Okay, that was a wasted effort. Time to ask him straight on. "Look, I don't know _who_ you are, but I can tell you this; I. Am. Kagome!" she said sternly, pointing a finger in his direction, "You expect me to know what the heck you're going on about, and answer some wacked up questions that make no damn sense! So you know what? Get stuffed!"

She could have sworn she saw him twitch. He sputtered, "Y- you crazy woman! You've got to be Kagome!" he placed his hand to his chin like he was thinking, "Absolutely no one could imitate your brashness so perfectly…"

Yeah, she was completely lost. "So… my getting mad at you convinced you to drop the crazyness…? Not that I'm complaining about your believing me… But you're just messed up!" she managed to stumble out. This guy was crazy!

He ignored her, and instead returned to his questioning, "But if you a_re_ Kagome, then why don't you remember me? Did that bastard Naraku do something to you before you killed him?"

Kagome was taken aback. How dare he call her a killer! "I'll have you know," she said hotly, "that I have never killed anyone! How dare you call me a killer?" she then looked down at him and his bike, "And the front of your bike was crushed! How did you fix that!" she then asked the other question that was poking her brain, "And who on earth is Naraku?"

Her clear thoughts screamed in warning, '_Someone so evil that even his name means hell!_

With a shudder, Kagome realized that the voices in her dreams were the same as her clear thoughts.

"_Naraku,_" the man spit the name out like it was a curse, "Is a foul, evil, creature. Killing him is not something you should be ashamed off." he paused before returning to think, "But you _did_ kill him… So why don't you remember me? There must be someone else… Maybe she would know…" he gave her a look, "Oh, and the bike was easy to fix. I just pulled the front out again."

That made no sense. Kagome stood on her tip-toes, glaring into his eyes, "Will you stop muttering and tell me what's going on?"

He looked at her and sighed. He stuck out his hand, "I'm InuYasha."

His hands were clawed, she noticed. That's strange. "I'm Kagome." She grasped his hand with her own and gasped as a shudder went through her body. Something was wrong with him, like he was different from other people! But she couldn't _feel_ it like how she would normally feel something… it was like she could _sense _it…

"You seem… different…" she said, pulling her hand back. Not, even without the physical contact, she could still sense something off about him.

He gave her an incredulous look, "Obviously. I'm half demon, but apparently you don't know that anymore. God, this is going to be confusing."

"WHAT!" she yelled, "Are you crazy! I have half a mind to take you to the nuthouse! Stuff like that doesn't exist!" Half-demons? He was insane!

Wagging a teasing finger in the air, he said, "Half a mind, Kagome. You know I'm telling the truth." InuYasha tilted his head towards her and looked at her, "You do remember, somewhere down there," he leaned back and explained, "You're a priestess. You can sense demons. It's true, swear!"

Her clear thoughts, the voices, whatever they were, nudged Kagome, '_Look under his hat!"_

She took a deep breath. Time to act on the voices. Steeling her nerves, she reached up and snatched his cap off his head as quick as lightning.

"Hey!" he yelled, trying to grab his hat, "What the heck?"

Kagome gasped. He had… ears… white, fluffy dog ears on top of his head. She had a sudden urge to touch them. "Whoa. You really are telling the truth." She muttered quietly. The voices were telling the truth too.

"Glad you believe me," InuYasha – his name made so much more sense to Kagome now – muttered, annoyed. He grabbed his hat back and shoved it on his head, "You should be glad that there isn't anyone on this street. Doing something like that in public will attract way to much attention. Don't you know anything?"

She gave him a look, "Hey, I confirmed your story, you should be grateful. And of course I know things!"

He sighed, "You don't know enough…" he looked away, his eyes filled with melancholy. "You should remember so much more. But you don't… Why? I don't see what happened to make things so wrong…"

"Are you saying there is something wrong with me?" Kagome demanded. It was fine when _she_ thought that there was something wrong with her, but when a total stranger said the same it was very insulting, "There is nothing wrong with me, you bastard!" she yelled.

InuYasha shuddered in fear at the tone of her voice. He hadn't forgotten what she could do with just one word. Even after five hundred years, he still hadn't managed to take that damn necklace off. "Relax! It's just… It's like when I look at you, you're different _inside._ Like I don't know part of you anymore." He looked down at the ground, "I don't like not knowing you."

She softened, "I don't understand. I don't know who you are. I don't know how you know me. I didn't even know until just now that there was something that I couldn't remember."

"Until today, I thought you were dead." he admitted, "I was… scared to come back to Japan. If I saw you before you knew me… I don't know what I would have done." He fidgeted with his hands nervously.

The two fell silent, and Kagome took the chance to try and wrap her mind around everything that she had heard. Her first reaction was to dismiss it completely and forget the whole thing ever happened. Yet the top of her mind was entranced by this change from the mundane. The bottom of her mind was the part that had doubts.

"I- I…" she took a deep breath, "Thanks for… well, thanks. I'm going to head home. I need to think," she gave a short bow out of respect before she turned to leave, "Oh, by the way," she looked over her shoulder, "328-5860! Call me!" she gave a final wave before she hurried away.

He called behind her, "I will! But Kagome, you have to try and remember!"

Kagome tried to ignore that.

She kept her mind clear of thoughts, thinking only about what she had to do. She had to go to the main road, get a taxi back to the school, get her bike, and head home. Then she could think. She just had to get home before her mind collapsed into a flurry of questions and doubts.

* * *

S-S: Sorry the chapter is short, but I needed to get that long conversation over with. PS: Don't call Kagome's cell. Just… don't.


	6. 6 Tell The Truth

S-S: Happy belated Fourth of July!

Do you really think that I own InuYasha?

* * *

Kagome hopped out of the cab and absent-mindedly threw some money at the driver. It was probably too much for a simple trip to her school, but she didn't have the patience to count out bills. She was feeling a little twitchy, be it nervousness or excitement or fear. The cab sped off behind her, leaving her standing in front of the big school building all by herself. She bit her lip in concentration and walked over to the bike racks.

But something stopped her. She sat down on the brick wall that ran along the side of the bike racks. Reaching into the depths of her purse, she pulled out the book that had been so bothering her. "All right Shikon-no-tama…" she muttered, "Let's see what your story is…"

"Talking to yourself, are we?" A familiar, yet sarcastic voice asked.

Kagome jolted out of her book induced coma and looked up to meet the strange red eyes of Suki, the girl from the archery club. "Oh, hello." she said lamely. Suki had odd colored eyes, but Kagome was glad to know that she did not sense any of the 'demonic'ness that she had earlier with InuYasha. It was good to know that not everyone with odd eye color was a demon – or half of one. God, that was going to get very confusing, wasn't it?

Suki plopped down next to Kagome, "So what's eating you?"

'Oh, I met a stranger on the street who claims that I have forgotten him and some horribly evil person. Oh, and he's a half-demon.' Instead, Kagome voiced a more minor concern, "Did… did you by any chance…" she turned and looked her full in the eye, "Did you kill your parents and rip out their hearts?" she demanded.

The girl paused. Then she titled her head back and laughed. She clutched her stomach and gasped over the peals of laughter, "Were… the heck… did you hear that crap?"

Kagome felt a hot blush of embarrassment reddening her face, "N-nowhere." she said quietly. Suki breathed in deep to try and stop her laughing. When she had sobered up somewhat, the purple-haired girl said, "My parents are dead, yes, and I didn't like them much, but I most certainly did not kill them. And who the heck rips out people's hearts?"

"That's what I said!" Kagome chimed in agreement. She let out a breath that she hadn't been aware of holding. Really, how could she have believed Eri's rumors? "I think that they were just scared of you. People don't seem to like you much." she admitted.

Suki's grin faded to a smile, "Yeah. People don't like me and the two others. We've been friends forever, but all we've really got is each other. We have to really on ourselves, because no one… no one…" she trailed off.

"I'm sorry." And Kagome meant it.

She waved her hand dismissively, "Nah, don't worry about it. I mean, I've got my twin sister, and Ichida still keeps in touch with her family sometimes… It's not that bad." She smiled again, "Want to see something really cool?" she asked.

Glad for the change in topic, Kagome nodded her head enthusiastically. Suki was still wearing her archery club garb, so she pulled down her kimono-like sleeve to show Kagome something on her right shoulder. On the pale skin was a tattoo. It was a simple red swirl design, but somehow it reminded Kagome of fire. She hesitantly reached out and touched the red inked pattern. Her fingers could feel no difference between the tattoo and Suki's normal skin – like it was there naturally.

"Wow, that's really awesome." Kagome said, removing her finger from Suki's skin, feeling a bit awkward.

Suki shrugged her sleeve up, "Yeah, it's really pretty cool. Everyone in my family gets one! Kinda like a tradition. My sister's the same age as me, but she doesn't have one yet," she looked down at her hands, and it was like a shadow fell over her features, "She wants to get one, I think. It's sometimes hard to tell." she shook off the shadow and looked back up at Kagome, "But as entertaining as your question about ripping people's hearts out was, that's not _really_ what's on your mind, is it?"

Kagome was slightly taken back by her sharp insight. She nodded, but didn't know how to voice her concerns, fears, or whatever they were. "I… met someone today…" she said, stumbling over the words, "He… said some weird stuff. That's all. I'm just nervous."

"I… see." Suki said stiffly, her back unusually straight, "Who was it? A stalker?"

She shook her head, "No, well, I don't think so anyway. Just someone that I think I might have forgotten…" Crazy though he may have appeared, InuYasha didn't seem like a stalker. It just wasn't… him… Now Kagome's thoughts were going crazy, acting like she knew who he was. Kagome looked down at the cover of the Shikon-no-Tama. Her eye fell on the inked black arrow.

The bow had felt right, hadn't it?

"I'm going to join the archery club." she said, surprising herself in the firmness of her decision.

Suki grinned, her sadistic look returning, "Excellent! Practice starts at ten, tomorrow morning! If you're late, you get to help me practice my Shock Therapy techniques." she stuck out her hand, "I'm the club leader, by the way."

Kagome hesitantly shook her hand, now slightly regretting her decision – Shock Therapy didn't sound the best way to start a Sunday morning. But she had agreed, and it seemed like the right thing to do. "See you tomorrow morning then."

* * *

InuYasha leaned over and angrily punched the four-digit code into the tiny black keypad by the side of the gate. After a second, the stupid thing beeped and the tall metal gates that blocked his way swung open, allowing him entrance. He didn't like the security system – having to remember a pin always gave him pains – but he did acknowledge that it did its job and kept people out. The house was more of a mansion anyways, and security was needed to keep press out – a large business attracted attention.

He drove past the main driveway and went to the garage. He hopped off his bike, letting the old thing fall to the ground with a satisfying thud. The bike was always getting trashed up and thrown around. He would fix the damn thing later. Looking briefly around the garage, he noticed with a smirk that the black Aston Martin was parked as well.

Perfect. Just who he wanted to yell at.

With a loud bang, he slammed the door that lead to the main house open and then kicked it shut behind him, probably permanently damaging the hinges. He stomped through the hall into the living room, his sneakers kicking up the carpet in his haste and anger.

His brother was sitting in front of the coffee table, typing on a laptop, his fingers a blur as they moved over the keyboard. InuYasha slammed the laptop shut, "You said she was dead!" he yelled, pointing an accusing finger.

Sesshomaru looked up and sighed, "What on earth are you talking about?" he asked, uninterested.

"Kagome!" InuYasha angrily replied, "You said that she was dead! She's not! I saw her today! She's alive!" he sat down and scowled into the carpet, "And she can't remember any of it…"

There was a second of silence as InuYasha cooled down, trying to let out his anger. "The miko?" his brother asked, confused, "Are you sure it was her?"

InuYasha gave a tense nod, "Yeah, it was her all right. Unless someone else can perfectly fake being her…"

Sesshomaru rested his chin on his fingers as he thought over the options, "When I arrived, the only body I saw was yours. I assumed that Kagome had perished the same way as the others, and that the miasma hadn't left any remains. Perhaps it is possible that her soul has been animated into a flesh body, like what happened with Kikyo."

"Could be…" InuYasha said, but then shook his head, "Nah. She didn't smell dead like Kikyo did. I think it's honestly her. Body, soul, and all." This revelation seemed to make him happier, like some dream of his had finally come true.

"Are you _sure_? It has been five hundred years after all, and if you are wrong…" his brother cautioned.

InuYasha nodded firmly, "I'm positive. I couldn't have forgotten her scent. It's definitely her. But how the hell is she alive? And what made her forget?"

"Perhaps she did survive your battle with Naraku after all, but that still does not explain how she has forgotten you." Sesshomaru frowned, "If her memory has indeed been removed, could it be the work of Naraku?"

InuYasha nodded, "Yeah, that's what I think. Maybe he did something to Kagome before she killed him? Can he do something like that? I mean, there was that issue with Kohaku, but he _could_ remember bits of it. And Kohaku was fighting the control and he remembered. If it was the battle with Naraku that made her forget, then Kagome has still been alive for three years since then. She's strong willed, it wouldn't have taken her that long to fight off the control of Naraku. Maybe he was using a different method, or this is somehow more potent than before?" InuYasha sighed and gave Sesshomaru a look, "I never thought I'd say this, but I think that we need help…"

A cellphone was already in Sesshomaru's hand as he dialed. After a moment, the person on the other end picked up with a beep. "… It's me," Sesshomaru said after a moment, "Sorry, I know it's early morning in America, but we need your help. … It's Naraku. … How soon can you get here? … Don't bother with a plane."

* * *

Her phone rang again. Kagome picked it up and took one look at the caller ID before ending the call. Ayumi again. Next they would get Hojo to call her. She sighed.

Kagome twirled the pencil in her hand around and around in circles. The math homework lay in front of her, taunting her, as she struggled to focus on it. It was no use. Homework would have to take a back seat this time. When she had arrived home earlier this morning, she barely made it past the well house. She had frozen up, like an invisible hand was squeezing her insides, as she approached the old wooden structure. She had held her breath as she ran past, only able to breathe once she was safely inside her house.

This was ridiculous. Home was where she was supposed to feel safe, not where she was terrified of her own backyard. Even the Goshinboku, the thousand year old tree, was becoming scary to her.

It was like she didn't know who she was anymore.

Had she truly forgotten a part of herself? How was such a thing possible? Was this InuYasha really telling the truth? And yet a part of her knew to trust him, like she _did_ know him. It was like something had messed with her head, and she didn't know right from wrong anymore. She tossed the pencil in her hand to the side. Frustrated and confused and even a bit angry, the wooden and graphite stick broke in three when it hit the wall.

"Damn it!" she muttered under her breath, "What is wrong with me!" her head hit the desk, her face buried in her arms like she was trying to hide from the world. She wished that she could hide. Run and hide because she didn't want to face the truth. The truth wasn't something that she wanted to face, that was all she thought she knew.

Damn it.

What had he called her? Brash?

She was supposed to be stubborn, not falling to pieces! She had to stand up and take control of her life! She couldn't run! She couldn't hide! And for the love of god, she wasn't going to try. She was going to face this.

Resolved, she reached over to her bag and pulled out the book that had been so haunting her. "All right Shikon-no-Tama… Prepare to meet your match." she whispered reassuringly to herself. Steeling herself from anything that might happen, she slowly opened the top cover, scanned the table of contents, flipped the chapter marked 'The Legend', and began to read.

'_Th_e _legend of the Shikon-no-Tama, or the Jewel of Four Souls, has always been a tale shrouded in mystery. It began in the 1500's, in feudal Japan, when the country was going through the Sengoku Jidai. The story tells of a priestess named Midoriko, a woman so powerful and so holy, that with one slash of her sword, she could purify ten demons at once. She was adored by a man who longed for her love. When it was clear that Midoriko did not return his love, he fell into despair. At the same time, a horde of demons plotted against Midoriko, trying to come up with a way to take her down. They used the man as a host body, and joined together to create one demon of incredible power. Thus Midoriko and the demon fought for many days and nights, and at the end it became clear that neither would win. So Midoriko used the last of her spiritual energy to take the demon's soul into her own soul, and expelled it from her body. This left behind a crystallized soul, the Shikon-no-Tama.'_

A crystallized soul… Was such a thing possible? Without her really knowing, Kagome's hand twitched towards her necklace.

There was a loud knock on her door. "Hey Kagome!" Souta called, his voice muffled by the wooden door, "Mom says dinner's ready! Come on down!" his footsteps began to leave her door, now that his message was told.

Kagome opened her mouth – intent on yelling something along the lines of 'on my way' – but instead she yelled, "Souta, wait!" His footsteps stopped. Kagome scrambled out of her chair and flung the door open, greeted by the sight of a slightly surprised Souta.

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked, confused.

She stared into his eyes, "I need you to tell me the truth," he visibly tensed, "What do you know about the well? I know that you're hiding something, you and mom and gramps, all of you. Tell me!" she demanded.

He wrung his hands nervously, "Sorry Kagome. I can't tell you. I promised not to." he admitted.

"What?" she asked – ready to go beat up whoever evil bastard made her brother promise such a thing, "Who made you promise something like that?"

"You did." he whispered, before he raced down the stairs, leaving Kagome standing there, stunned.


	7. 7 Kags Kaggy Kago

S-S: I always laugh and find it funny when people ask me questions in reviews. As I always say, you will have to wait and read to find out. And from the questions that I'm getting, I am proud to say that I think I have successfully fooled you all. MWAHAHAHA! *dodges rotten tomato*

Really? This is called 'fanfiction' for a reason! I don't own InuYasha!

* * *

_Blood. _

_Kagome was stepping in blood. _

_She knew what would happen, this had happened before, but she couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't try and do anything. She was stuck, having to do what she had done before. _

_Block out the screams. Don't think about them. Dont think about how they tug on her heart so hard that it's like pain and how they make her want to cry because she knows who's screaming and she wants to stop it but she can't. Ignore the cloud of darkness closing in on her trying to swallow her and ohmygodshewasgoingtodiecouldn'tbreathecouldn'tbreathe. Where was silver? _

_She had to have silver, there needed to be silver, where was silver? If silver had showed up, then those people wouldn't scream! If silver showed up then Kagome wouldn't be stepping in blood! _

_There, at the end of the darkness, she saw the someone that she hated. She drew what she now knew was her bow and pulled back the string before she let it go in a burst of bright light. Bright purple light. Like the jewel around her neck. _

_No. _

_It wasn't around her neck, she could see that now, her jewel was at the end of the tunnel of darkness, the someone had it! She had to get it back! It wasn't in her hand so horrible things were going to happen! It needed to be in her hand, that was where it was safe! That was the only place it was safe! That was the only place she was safe! The someone wasn't allowed to have it, the someone couldn't have it!_

_There was the something again, coming towards her, shooting towards her. She couldn't dodge it, she knew that. The someone was hit, but the something must not know that because it kept coming, coming towards her, and she knew that it would hit._

_Blood. Silver. And, for the first time, a glimpse of red. _

_Kagome screamed._

Kagome bolted out her bed in cold sweat, falling on the floor in a tumble of blankets. It was the dream again. She lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath that was currently coming out in airy gasps. Without really realizing it, she reached a hand to her neck, just to make sure that her necklace was still there. The dreams were getting worse. And she was one hundred percent sure that it had everything to do with that mysterious silver-haired familiar stranger, InuYasha. And she knew that the dreams would get worse the more contact she had with him. And she knew that she was never going to let him go.

Damn it all. She was never going to get rid of the dark circles under her eyes, was she? Note to self: get better make-up. Second note to self: make InuYasha pay for every single bottle.

She shrugged the pile of blankets off her as she stood up and reluctantly stretched. She was losing sleep over this, and that simply wasn't good for a girl. Running a hand through her ruffled hair, she stumbled towards the general direction of the bathroom.

Ugh. She felt like breaking the mirror and watching her reflection come to pieces. These dreams were now having a visible effect on her. Last night, she had been so angry at Souta that she had skipped dinner. Her stomach growled in protest. Her hair was messy from tossing and turning and her eyes looked sunken.

_This was getting ridiculous_, she thought for what must be the thousandth time. She repeated her now-daily process of brushing out the tangles, covering her under eyes with make-up, and trying to not look like the Creature from Beyond the Bed. Her efforts only semi-failed. Dragging on a pair of worn jeans and a dark green shirt with a high neck that hid her necklace from sight, she flopped back onto her bed, staring at the stars on her ceiling.

Perhaps she would give her math homework another try. But she had this horrible feeling that she was forgetting something. Not something that had anything to do with InuYasha, mind you. Something more…

She glanced over at her clock, 10: 12. Huh, maybe she could get another hour of sleep before making lunch…

"CRAP!" Kagome yelled, jumping out of bed. She grabbed her purse and shoved some random stuff in before flinging her door open and running downstairs. She dodged her mother on the way to the door.

"Kagome, I was wondering if-" her mother started.

Kagome interrupted her as she kicked on her shoes, "Sorry I'll talk later!"

Her mother looked completely perplexed, "What on earth are you rushing for?"

"SHOCK THERAPY!" Kagome yelled as she bolted out of the house. Grabbing her bike, she jumped down the steps in front of the shrine, temporarily forgetting her crippling fear of the well house – which had been crushed by the fear of an angry Suki.

She hopped on her bike the moment she was on flat ground and pedaled towards the school as fast as she could. It was as if her life depended on it – which it partly did, in fact. "Crapcrapcrapohcrap! I'm gonna die!" she yelled into the wind as she rushed.

Dangerously dodging cars and winding around the nearby pedestrians, she found herself soon skidding to a frantic stop in front of the school. She snapped the bike lock into place, hurrying in her desperate rush to not be later than she already was.

She ran around the school and soon arrived in front of the door to the archery range. With a knock, she slowly opened the door and peered inside, hoping beyond hope that Suki had not arrived yet. When the door swung fully open, she breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the only occupant was Tsubaki.

"Hi Tsubaki!" she said cheerfully, "I hope I'm not late…?"

Tsubaki turned and gave her a flash of a smile, "Oh, you're late all right. Be glad Suki's not coming after you with my scythe." she said pleasantly.

Kagome gulped, "Where is she anyw- YAAAAAAHHHHH!" she screamed. Upon taking a step inside the room, she suddenly tripped and fell flat on the ground, screaming on her way down. "Ouch…." she muttered, her face in the floor.

"MWAHAHAHA!" Suki laughed, standing to the side, so that Kagome couldn't see her from the doorway, "Shock therapy strikes again!"

Kagome slowly got up, looking behind her to see Ichida rolling a ball of fishing line that had been cunningly formed into a tripwire back into its spool. Suki walked up to Kagome, who looked up at the grinning – again, grinning _sadistically_ – girl who was posing dramatically with her hands on her hips, "And thus our newest member pays the price for being late!" she said proudly.

"Sorry Kagome," Ichida squeaked, "I _said_ she shouldn't have tripped you, but she didn't listen."

Kagome rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she stood up, "No, no, it was my fault. I shouldn't have been late."

"Damn right you shouldn't have been late." Suki agreed with a fierce nod, "Well now that we're all _finally,_" – pointed look towards Kagome –_ "_here, let's get ready, shall we?"

Wait, this was the whole archery club? She had assumed that yesterday was just them practicing outside of the club, she didn't think that the archery club was actually this small. "Is it just us…?" Kagome asked, "I assumed that there would be more members…"

Tsubaki tossed her a set of the black hakama-white haori uniform, "We are the entire club. Just us four in our little happy group of S and M. And by S, I mean Suki. And by M, I mean crazies like you who joined this club voluntarily," she said, "Here, get changed. The changing rooms are on the door to the right."

Kagome clumsily caught the bundle of clothes. With a glance around, she noticed that the other three girls had already changed into the uniform. She hurried off to the changing room and shut the door behind her. There were twenty lockers lining the side of the changing room, and only three held name tags. When she had changed into the uniform, Kagome opened the locker nearest to her and shoved her clothes and shoes in, resolving to get a nametag later.

She glanced in a mirror before stepping out. To her surprise, the old fashioned clothing really suited her. When she had been younger, she had played dress up with the traditional miko outfits that her grandfather had keep in the storage. Something about the cut of the clothing and the simple design really suited the way Kagome was.

Once she stepped out, Suki gave her an approving once-over, "You don't look half bad," she gruffly admitted, "I'll go fit you for a bow." she said, before walking off to the storage cupboard.

Ichida tottered up to Kagome, holding a pair of gloves and arm guards, "Here. You'll probably need these cause sometimes it kinda hurts if you nick yourself with the bow or something." She held out the gloves to Kagome. As Kagome pulled on the weird two-finger gloves, she noticed that Ichida wasn't wearing the normal archery gloves like the other two. Hers covered her whole hand and weren't fingerless. Weird.

"Aha!" Suki said proudly, pulling an old and slightly battered looking bow out of a bucket containing many less fortunate bows. She tossed it to Kagome, "There you go, Kags. Hold it up to you and let me see how tall it is." she instructed.

_Kags?_ Kagome thought with a twitch as she held up the bow and waited while Suki declared it 'all right'.

Suki grabbed her own bow and addressed them all, "Okay group- I mean, gang – I mean… uhh...- Okay, Poor Unfortunate Souls! Let's get started!" she gave an evil laugh before pointing a finger dramatically at Kagome, "Give a welcome to our latest victi- member!"

Tsubaki clapped politely at these strange words of welcome, while Ichida proceeded to jump on Kagome and attempt to glomp her to death while cheering.

"Enough chat!" Suki barked, "Let's get down to business like _real_ men!"

"Suki, we're not men." Tsubaki stated blankly, giving the purple-haired girl a you-drank-alcohol-didn't-you look.

Suki laughed again, "AHAHAHAHA! Shut up!" she pointed her bow at Kagome and then pointed her to where the center target was set up with a quiver full of arrows hanging off the metal bow post, "All right Kaggy, I want you to fire a full quiver and we'll evaluate you!"

'_Kaggy?'_ Kagome twitched again as she marched up to the post. She pulled a long thin arrow out of the quiver – a full quiver seemed to be twelve arrows – and strung it into the bow string. She pulled the string back and took aim, feeling the creak of the wood as she stretched it to its limit.

There it was again, that power, gathering at the tip of the arrow! If she could gather that energy and generate more… she could probably destroy the whole range in one shot!

No, she had to stop herself. She couldn't destroy the whole range, what would her new friends think? She took a deep breath and focused hard. Slowly, instead of gathering the power, she cut it off, stopping it from forming around the arrow. It was much harder than gathering it. It felt more like trying to cut off a natural reaction, like holding her breath. Possible, but tricky.

She let go of the string and with a pleasant _thwack_ the arrow imbedded itself in the red area of the straw target.

One by one, she slowly fired every single arrow in the quiver, making sure that each was powerless. Every single one was in the red. And the last one, hit _dead center_.

Done, Kagome cheered, "Whoho! I rock!" she yelled, jumping up and down happily as Ichida cheered as well, "I knew you were a good one, I knew it I knew it!" Ichida yelled.

Tsubaki grinned evilly and walked up to the stand, stringing her bow as she went, "And now, I will prove that I can beat the new prodigy as payback for yesterday." she declared, pulling her bow back and aiming at the same target.

Like in a movie, she let go slowly, holding her hand in place as the arrow sailed towards the center of the target. It hit the center arrow that Kagome had shot, and – with much epicness – her arrow split Kagome's arrow right down the center before only stopping when the metal tip had hit the back of the target.

Kagome's jaw dropped to the floor, "Woah. I thought things like that didn't happen in real life!" she said, dumbfounded.

Ichida flailed her arms, "You cheated Tsubaki, you cheated, cheated, _cheated_!" she said childishly. Suki crossed her arms in a huff, "Yeah Tsubaki, you're not supposed cheat." she agreed.

"Wait," Kagome asked Suki – ignoring Ichida and Tsubaki who were currently in a 'is not' 'is too' contest –, "How can she cheat at archery?"

Suki paused, "..."

"You don't know, do you?" Kagome confirmed, with a dubious look.

"SHE JUST CAN!" Suki denied angrily, "However she does it, I _know _that it's cheating! It's got to be!"

Kagome nodded sarcastically, "Riiiiight...," but she quickly shut up when Suki mentioned something along the lines of 'sythe… blood… no body…' under her breath.

Suki clapped her hands to get the attention of the other two who immediately shut up and snapped to attention, "Well since out latest vitci- member passed the test, lets congratulate Kago on a job well done, shall we?" she said.

"Stop calling me that!" Kagome yelled, her hands on her hips, facing off Suki in what was probably the stupidest thing she ever did, "My name's Kagome! KA! GO! ME!" she yelled. She had had enough of the name confusion yesterday with that weirdo InuYasha.

Suki's face split into a grin, "AHAHAHAHA! So you finally grew a pair, huh?" she confirmed, apparently pleased that Kagome had stood up to her.

Tsubaki looked like she was about to facepalm any second now, "She _can't_ grow a pair Suki, don't you know _anything_ about basic anatomy?"

"AHAHAHA! Shut up!"

Much later, after many incidents of shock therapy, glomping, sadistic grins, and evil laughter, Kagome finally staggered out of the archery club room, feeling a good deal bruised and mentally shocked. Her new friends were… crazy, for lack of a word that portrayed them in a positive light. Quite honestly, were she not of the belief that their craziness was relatively harmless, she might send in the men in the white coats. On the bright side, she thought as she stumbled towards the front of the school, at least she was good at archery.

Something about shooting arrows was so appealing to her. Especially when that mysterious power appeared. Kagome had gotten pretty good over the last hour and a half at controlling her power and making sure it didn't show, but she was itching to fire an arrow without the restraint, if only to see what would happen. If only to be able to lose the arrow and _watch_ as it wreaked havoc.

As she walked towards the front of the school, she frowned, feeling something like the 'demonicness' that she had felt with InuYasha. Except while his aura was less so… this power felt stronger. Was this that person that InuYasha had talked about? Naraku?

She slowed her steps, wishing for a bow in her hand, but her fist closed on empty air. Her heat beat faster as she looked to all sides, looking for anyone suspicious.

Standing in front of the school, a tall woman dressed in dark grey business pants and a cobalt blouse, was leaning against the side of a black car, her arms crossed impatiently. Red eyes looked around underneath sleek black bangs, her short hair pinned up into a bun that was held in place by a few white feathers.

The demonic aura was coming from her.

Kagome walked up to the woman nervously, trying to figure out her flight-or-fight impulse. The woman smiled when she saw Kagome, but it was more of an impatient smile. She held out her hand, "Hello Kagome. You don't remember me apparently, but I'm Kagura."

* * *

S-S: HA! Bet you didn't see that coming! … Okay, so you probably did… I wasn't very discrete. Ahem, if anyone is into the Naruto fandom, I'm sort of testing the new fic waters, so to speak, and I would appreciate it if you guys would read and review my new story, FreeFall. Okay, that's it for now! Adieu!


	8. 8 Breaking In

S-S: Wow… it's been so long. You guys probably hate me now. But I have a good excuse! I promise! The first version I wrote of this chapter went so damn slow that it took me forever to get halfway done, then my computer died and I lost everything but the first two paragraphs. So this chapter is also the longest I have written so far to make up for it. Also, I was on vacation, school started, _and_ I drew a picture for the title. The link to the picture doesn't work here, so I posted it on my profile. Check it out!

Clearly, I do not own InuYasha. If I did, why on earth would I bother with FanFiction?

* * *

The window creaked open, allowing a brief gust of cold night air to blow its way inside the building. Two figures, dressed in black, snuck inside, the second shutting the window behind them. They were inside an office building, long rows of wooden desks shoved together in groups of four with thin plastic walls keeping the areas separate. A few potted plants that had been methodically watered, dotted the edges of the uniform room. Pillars made of glass were spaced every twenty feet apart, and pieces of paper in all sorts of colors – not-really-golden-yellow, and mysteriously-faded-grey-green – were attached to the glass with sticky-tape.

The taller of the two figures hurried towards the center of the room, ducking expertly behind pillars and walls. This figure was clearly a man, dressed in dark pants and a long black shirt. He had donned leather gloves, a hood that covered his hair in darkness, and wore a face mask that covered everything except a pair of bright amber eyes. At his hip was a sword, one that looked particularly old and rusty.

The second figure followed closely behind, casting wary glances about the room at the various security cameras. This one was defiantly female, going by the curvy figure, elegant face, and long eye lashes. Dressed not-so-expertly for the occasion, she wore dark skin-tight pants, high black boots, and a turtleneck shirt. She had on a pair of gloves that fit a little too loosely, a sign that they had been borrowed, perhaps from her companion. Dark brown hair was pulled into a bun, a black scarf wrapped around her neck to cover her lower face. Slung on her back was a metal quiver full of arrows, and in her hand she held a bow.

"I cannot believe you made me bring these!" she hissed at her companion under her breath as they took refuge from the cameras behind a pillar, "When Suki finds out that I stole from the Archery club…" she shuddered, "I don't even want to consider thinking about what she'll do!"

"Shh!" he said quietly, holding up a finger to his lips, "Don't be so loud! Honestly Kagome, you act like you've never done this before…" With a roll of his eyes, he leaned his head around the corner of the pillar, peering into the darkness like he had night vision.

She sighed, leaning back against the wall, "I _haven't_ don't this before, actually. Surprisingly enough, I've never snuck into a corporate building, InuYasha."

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

_Kagome stopped and stared before tentatively shaking Kagura's hand, hesitating because for all she knew, this woman might turn out to be evil and after her soul… or something. "Um. Hi?" she responded, unsure of how to reply without being offensive. When dealing with demons that could be out to get you, it was best to start off as polite as possible – or so she liked to think. Having never needed to deal with such a thing until recently, she had no real idea what to do at all, and was instead, simply guessing and hoping that she didn't get murdered horribly in her sleep. _

_With a tilt of her head, Kagura motioned to Kagome to follow her to the car. "Get in," she said, her voice surprisingly kind considering she just gave Kagome an order that could be drastically misinterpreted as a threat. Kagura went around to the side of the car and got in on the driver's side. She gave Kagome a look, "What? We should get going." _

"_Why should I?" Kagome asked before she realized that it was a very rude question – and Kagome had been trying for politeness… – , "For all I know, you could be an enemy of mine. As of yesterday, I apparently have those!" she crossed her arms angrily across her chest gave Kagura a very pointed, determined, and slightly terrified stare. _

_Kagura laughed cheerfully until her pleasant mirth was broken off with a cough that tugged her back to answer Kagome's question, "Yeah… I'm really not one of your enemies. At least, not anymore. I'm on your side," she returned Kagome's stare with twice as much intensity and a helping of complete honesty that rather made Kagome feel a bit bad about yelling at her a second ago, "I would say you can take my word on that, but really, seeing as you don't know me, my word doesn't really carry much weight, does it? So I suppose… It's really your choice." Kagura gave a slight shrug that said she couldn't really care, but her eyes said the exact opposite._

_Go. Stay. Go. Stay. Kagome's mind flickered back and forth like a broken light switch. Go and discover the truth about herself, or stay, and live life ignorant of something that was so huge and important and so fascinatingly connected to her hazy past. Was there really a choice? Kagome swung open the passenger door without hesitation and got in the car. _

_With a grin, Kagura shoved her keys in the ignition and pressed on the gas. The car shot forward like a speeding bullet with surprising accuracy, Kagura's fast driving combined with skill – terrifying, but fun. Kagome looked over at the older woman, "So… where are we going, anyways?" she asked._

"…" _Kagura paused, "My place, sorta. InuYasha's there too. You'll see when we get here."_

_Well, if she was with InuYasha, then Kagome could trust her. As weird and crazy as Inuyasha was, she knew that he was trustworthy, and that he was not one of her enemies. She couldn't say the same for anyone else in the world, it seemed. What with her family the way it was… and how apparently there were enemies that she had, but didn't remember. And Naraku, whose name, even when dead, still made Inuyasha sacred. And his name made herself scared, and she didn't know why it did for she couldn't remember anything about him, yet somehow knew to be scared of him, like the way a child knows to be scared of the dark without knowing what was in the dark that made it so bad. Kagome sighed deeply as she leaned back in her seat._

_The car left the center of the city, and moved onto the longer wider roads near the edge of the main hub of the concrete jungle. "You know," Kagura said, her voice turning quiet and strange, odder and more like an echo of a thought than a word, "I always hoped you were still alive. Even though it sounds dumb, and back then sounded impossible, I wanted you to be alive."_

_Kagome's eyes opened wider, "Why? I don't even remember you. Why would you…?" she asked. _

"_I really wanted to thank you." she replied, shocking Kagome, "I suppose I kinda have this irrational need to like because of it… but you saved me. You don't know, but I used to work for Naraku. When you killed him, you set me free. I have everything that I have because of you. If you hadn't killed him – and I'm not sure who else could – I would still be stuck as his damn puppet."_

_Because of Kagome? Kagome could do something like that? She sat still, not knowing what to say – nothing she could say was good enough. Her actions saved Kagura? Something about knowing that she had saved someone made part of Kagome feel just a little bit better. Maybe… if she had saved people, her past – her horrible forgotten memories – maybe remembering would be worth it. If only so that she could help more people. "Thank you." she said, meaning every word, "Really, thank you. I'm glad, that I managed to do some good before."_

"_Some good?" Kagura scoffed, "You did a hell of a lot more that just 'some' good in the world. You should hear InuYasha__ tell it," she chuckled lightly, "He talks about you like you were some sort of messiah or something. Poor guy's got it bad…" _

_Kagome's cheeks blushed bright cherry red as she struggled to understand what the heck Kagura was implying. Did Kagome and InuYasha have… a thing… for each other? Were she and him… together? "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, her voice coming out sounding rather childish and far more high-pitched and squeaky than she had intended. _

_Kagura didn't reply, and then said in a sing-song sort of voice, "Oh, nothing," and waved the matter off. She clearly didn't mean it, and a sneaky smile crept onto her face, "If you remember, you'll understand." Her face turned serious like a cloud passing over a sunny day, "That's what we're going to try and find out._

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

InuYasha simply gave her an incredulous look – as if the concept of _not_ sneaking into corporate buildings was completely foreign to him, "Come on, we need to be in the underground levels before the power cuts," he instructed, his voice taking on a far more serious tone. Still keeping low to the ground, he hurried towards the door in front of them.

Kagome stood at his back, keeping a lookout for any straying security guards. InuYasha pulled out the tiny video screen from his pocket, pushing the USB drive end into the side of the keypad on the door. The screen softly came to life, numbers flashing across the screen like magic. Then the numbers froze on a certain sequence of digits, and the tiny green button on the keypad flashed as the handle unlocked.

InuYasha pulled the device out of the keypad and placed it back in his pocket, opening the door just a crack and peering out into the corridor, "The stairs are at the end of the hall," he whispered to Kagome, "When the cameras turn, we have seven seconds to get inside the stairwell."

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

"_Well, it all begins with the Shikon-no-Tama," InuYasha began, sitting awkwardly on the sofa, "The Shikon-no-Tama was created when-"_

"_When the soul of the priestess Midoriko joined her soul with that of a powerful demon that she was fighting," Kagome recited, bored by the retelling, "I looked her up, I know how the jewel was made." She waved her hand to indicate that InuYasha was to continue._

_He looked surprised, but not too hesitant, "Oh, well," he cleared his throat nervously and began, "You probably should know about… Kikyo. She… she was a priestess," he didn't want to talk about her, that much was obvious. _

_But the name meant something to Kagome, something deep. There was a sadness behind, but also a jealousy. Kagome had never been jealous before. Kikyo… the name sounded so familiar though… where had she heard it? In her dreams? Had the voices spoken about her? She didn't think that Kikyo was there in the dream of black._

_InuYasha continued, "Well anyways, Kikyo was a priestess that was tasked with guarding the Shikon-no-Tama and purifying it. By then the jewel had gotten horribly corrupted and tainted by all the demons and evil humans that had possessed it. That… was when I met Kikyo. I didn't really want the jewel all that much, but I went after it anyway, thinking that it could turn me into a full demon. After a while me and Kikyo… well… We became… close."_

_Kagome blinked, "You loved her?"_

"_No! No!" he protested, waving his hands furiously, "I mean, back then I thought I did, but not anymore, I swear!" Although not sure as to why exactly InuYasha was so keen on Kagome knowing that he was over Kikyo, she didn't question it and let him continue. InuYasha coughed and resumed, "I could never win against Kikyo, but then she had this idea to turn me into a human, instead of a full demon. I agreed. She was going to bring the jewel to me and then well… I would be human. At the same time, Kikyo was caring for an injured bandit, a man by the name of Onigumo. His legs had been broken and his entire body suffered from the severest of burns. But he was still an evil man, and he lusted after Kikyo. On the day when Kikyo had agreed to bring me the jewel, a large horde of demons arrived at where Onigumo was and offered him a deal."_

_It was like the story of Midoriko all over again. "Onigumo agreed, didn't he." It wasn't a question. Kagome knew the answer already, "They joined with Onigumo and became a powerful demon."_

"_Yeah," InuYasha said, his voice bitter as he practically spat out the words, "And once that happened, the demon took the form of Kikyo and attacked me. I stole the jewel and ran, while the demon… went after Kikyo and attacked her. Like fools, we played the roles that he had cast for us, Kikyo and me fighting, to the death it seemed. But things went wrong for the demon. Kikyo did not kill me, as I did not kill her. She sealed me to a tree with a sacred arrow, and then passed away. The demon had wanted Kikyo to wish on the jewel that she and she alone would live, thereby corrupting the jewel further. But she didn't. Instead, Kikyo burned the jewel with her body. And the demon… vanished," he looked at Kagome and added, "That demon went by the name of Naraku."_

NARAKU!

_Kagome felt like clutching her head, felt like her mind was burning because she knew that name and now, hearing it in context, hearing what deeds went with that name, it was like she could remember bits and pieces of her past. A village, ground stained red with blood, corpses of demons and humans alike littering the ground. A young man, sitting in the grave of his father, trying to keep an ancient curse from awakening. A young boy with brown hair and black eyes, trying to kill his only living family. A small girl dressed in an orange kimono, trapped in a hut surrounded by demons. And bodies of the dead, everywhere, dead._

_And Kagome could see tiny shards of something pink, saw them getting darker and fouler, until a hand reached out and closed upon the shards. She heard in her head, a dark laugh that came from a voice that was horribly familiar. _

"_Naraku…" She muttered, "Yeah, I think I know the name. Not fully, but he's… he's done some terribly things, hasn't he?"_

_InuYasha nodded solemnly, "Yeah, he has."_

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

Kagome held her loaded bow at her side as InuYasha jimmied the lock on the door. The two tiny cameras that lined the hallways were slowly turning around to face them. Every inch they were closer to being spotted felt like a beat that Kagome's heart skipped. And yet something about this, the sneaking around, the danger, maybe even the feeling of being with InuYasha, it was all so familiar to Kagome.

Like the stars on her ceiling, this just felt like something Kagome was supposed to do, something that went with being Kagome. Kagome and InuYasha, in danger, in trouble, and on their way to getting deeper and deeper into a mess just so that they could find an extraordinary way to get back out. The feeling of a heavy and loaded bow in her arms, the warmth that came from InuYasha at her back, her racing heart, all of it so natural. And she loved it.

"Got it!" InuYasha whispered as there was a beeping on the door. He pulled the heavy metal door open and rushed Kagome inside before the metal shut firmly behind them with a clunk. They were confronted with a seemingly endless set of stairs, a windowless darkness, and cold concrete walls that didn't quite match the pretty glass windows and nice carpets of the offices just a hallway or so away. InuYasha started down the stairs, "Come on…"

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

"_So how did Naraku die?" Kagome finally asked, having had so many of her questions derailed and only half-answered. She had asked about what happened to their companions – apparently they had traveled with a group – she had asked about what happened to the girl called Rin – InuYasha's older brother Sesshomaru had refused to answer – and Kagome had even asked about an incarnation of Naraku's called Kanna – Kagura said nothing on the subject._

_All three of her companions at the table paused. Kagura shrugged and took a sip of her tea, and Sesshomaru and InuYasha exchanged looks before InuYasha finally answered with, "We're not really sure."_

_Kagome gave him a look, "How can you not be sure? I thought you said that Naraku was dead."_

_Sesshomaru held up a hand, "As to Naraku dying, we do know that," he stated firmly, "Aside from the evidence that we found after I resurrected InuYasha, there is this. If Naraku had survived, do you honestly think that he would have let the three of us live this long without attacking?" _

_No, of course not. But Kagome still couldn't remember what had happened, and so was only a little reassured. _

"_Before I died," InuYasha said slowly, "I saw your arrow hit Naraku. I didn't actually see him die before I blacked out, but we found your arrow lodged in tree right behind where Naraku had been standing. The body would have been disintegrated."_

"_So what about the jewel?" Kagome demanded. The jewel seemed like a particularly sensitive topic in her mind, but InuYasha was easily able to answer her questions about it, including how it had enabled her time-travel, which was easily supported be her fear of the well-house. _

_InuYasha looked Kagome in the eye, "That, no one is really sure about. We kind of need your memories for that one. But we think that you made a wish on the jewel, wishing it out of existence after Naraku died."_

_That made sense. Kagome nodded briefly before asking, "And so then why are my memories gone?"_

_This time it was Kagura who spoke, "Naraku has a… favorite technique of his that involves whipping memories. He did that to Kohaku, and tried the same thing on me after I rebelled," Kagura looked darkly at her teacup, like it would spontaneously burst into flame if she stared hard enough, "He finds it fun to mess with the minds of his opponents."_

_Kagome glowered, "And you think that he did the same thing to me."_

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

InuYasha swung himself over the side of the stairwell, falling three stories before landing silently on his feet, more like a cat than the dog. Nervously, yet completely ruled by the adrenaline that coursed through her veins like the most addictive drug, Kagome jumped over the side as well. For a moment, she relished the wonderful sensation of free-fall, before InuYasha caught her easily in his arms and set her down on the ground.

He turned to the door and quickly inserted the electronic device into the side of the keypad. After a second, the green light flashed, and InuYasha pocketed the device. He opened the door a crack, peering into the darkness of the next room.

Turning back to Kagome, he said, "No cameras down here, lets hurry! There may be guards!"

The two quickly entered the next room, the heavy door shutting behind them with an ominous click. As they ran through the room, Kagome found herself suddenly in a forgery. Not electronic forgery, like with documents and ID's. This was something more at home in a medieval castle than an office building. Huge stone and brick fireplaces were up against the wall, fueled by coal. Large blocks of rusty iron and steel and all sorts of metals that Kagome had no name for were stacked methodically. Huge wells of water stood by large assortments of iron tools that hung from the ceiling. Troughs and huge clunky tongs, large molds made of stone, and iron buckets that had been used far too often.

"This was where he worked," InuYasha commented as they reached the end of the large room, "He preferred more old fashioned methods of forging than the new modern ways. And he was too good at what he did for people to make him change."

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

_There was a beeping of a cell phone that interrupted the conversation. Sesshomaru pulled a small smart phone out of his pocket and glanced down at the screen. His face paled slightly and he tossed the phone to InuYasha, "Bad news. Totosai is missing."_

"_What?!" InuYasha demanded, clutching the phone and looking at the text message as if he couldn't believe his eyes, "How can he be missing? I called him last night to let him know about Kagome!"_

"_Yes," Sesshomaru said bitterly, "And since last night, he vanished from his office and hasn't been heard of since. That's what the message was about," he explained to Kagura and Kagome, "A hacker, and a skilled one, broke into the security system of the building. Since no one works there on weekends, the building has gone into lockdown. And any mention of what happened to Totosai is stuck inside."_

_InuYasha tossed the phone down on the table where it clattered loudly before stilling, "Fuck! What are we going to do!?"_

_Kagura rested her chin in her hand, thinking, "If we can't access the system from outside, then we're going to have to get into the building. From inside the system, all we would need to do would be establish a link with Totosai's computer. From there, I could easily get all the files needed."_

_Kagome raised her hand, not even bothering to ask who Totosai was, knowing that she would get an explanation later, "If the building is on lockdown, then… well… I mean, whoever's behind Totosai's disappearance will probably be watching the entrances. They probably know that we'll be coming."_

_This, InuYasha had an answer to, "We'd have to sneak in."_

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

InuYasha arrived at a door at the very end of the hall, "We're here."


	9. 9 Destruction and Despair

S-S: Here I am, once again, trying to keep up a decent speed in getting out chapters. Hopefully, I will not have another large gap like last time.

You all should know that I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

InuYasha leaned against the door, his gaze focused on a tiny wrist watch. "We've got twenty-three seconds until Kagura cuts the power. If we enter now, there won't be any way to avoid the cameras." He turned to Kagome as he said this, making sure that she got every word.

"Why are there so many cameras down here?" Kagome asked curiously. Earlier in the day, when she and InuYasha had been preparing to go – which involved making Kagome dress in all black –, she had been told exactly who Totosai was, what he had done back in the Feudal era, and exactly how InuYasha knew him. So yes, she had been briefed, but not very well, and there were large gaps in what she knew.

"It's Totosai's office. This was where he kept all his important documents. The place was designed to keep track of everyone who entered," InuYasha explained, "There is a stationary camera facing the door, and two others that cover the entire room. That's why we have to cut the power. Otherwise whoever is behind Totosai's disappearance and is trying to get rid of the evidence will have our faces as well."

Kagome nodded solemnly, her hand tightening around her bow as if the better she held it, the more bad things it could chase away. "Three seconds." InuYasha said, holding up three fingers, "Two… One… Now!"

Suddenly, the entire room was bathed in blackness. The small florescent ceiling lights that had laminated the forging equipment blinked out all at the same time. The lock on the door in front of them clicked, the keypad no longer having the electricity needed to keep it shut. InuYasha pulled out two flashlights, throwing one to Kagome and keeping the first for himself. As they flicked on the lights, long beams of white light cast spotlights across the room, throwing light on the twisted metal objects in the forgery and making them look like horror movie props.

"Let's go." InuYasha ordered, opening the door to Totosai's office.

This room was a lot smaller than the forgery, just a simple office. To one side of the room stood a desk that leaned suspiciously to the side, with a plethora of drawers and cabinets. The top was covered with a laptop – the only new thing in the room – and stacks of papers that had seen little light and many years – as though he simply had been too busy or too bored to tidy up. A few dented metal filing cabinets were pushed against the wall, one of the drawers open, the papers spilling out.

InuYasha tossed Kagome a small flashdrive from his pocket, "Get the computer turned on and plug that in. Kagura can do the rest at home."

Kagome caught the tiny device and nodded, immediately rushing to the laptop and flung the top up, pressing the power button. The machine hummed to life, a slow bar on the bottom of the screen loading. Behind her, InuYasha bent down amongst the fallen papers and the open cabinet drawer, searching for who-knew-what.

Once the computer was on, the flashdrive beeped, and the computer opened onto Totosai's account, despite Kagome not having entered a password. Folders of files and data popped open on the screen, before being dragged by an invisible mouse to the flashdrive folder. Names of famous companies, security camera footage from all over the building, and more strange words flashed before Kagome's eyes, barely giving her enough time to register them.

"Kagome." InuYasha said, holding loose papers in his hand, "I found what Totosai was looking for. He must have been searching for this before he left. Otherwise, he would have shut the drawer." His voice was off, more hollow and melancholy. As if there had been something sleeping deep in that file that should never have been woken.

Kagome glanced over at him, and asked curiously, "Why? He didn't seem to be all that organized."

He shook his head, "He wouldn't have left such important files strewn on the ground like… like they were worthless," Something in his voice, some deep seriousness made Kagome feel a shudder run down her spine. Whatever Totosai had been looking at, not only did InuYasha know of it, but it had some deep significance – a significance of which Kagome was utterly clueless.

"What are… those papers?" she asked tentatively, not sure that she wanted to know the answer.

Just as InuYasha opened his mouth to answer, there was a loud beep from the computer, and a skype window popped up. Kagura's face floated in the tiny screen. Kagome had been under the impression that it was too dangerous to contact them while they were inside the building. Whoever the enemy hacker was, they may be able to pick up the signal.

Something was wrong.

"InuYasha, Kagome!" Kagura yelled, typing quickly away at a partially visible computer keyboard, "I've got the outside security cameras up and running. There's someone coming!"

InuYasha threw himself toward the screen, and furiously demanded, "What?! I thought you said the power cut was undetectable!"

Kagura replied, slamming her fingers onto the keys in frustration, "It was! Whoever we're up against, they've got a genius or something on their side! Both me and Sesshomaru have been trying everything to stop the power cut and the file transfer from being overt! And they've jumped around everything we've thrown up like it was child's play! Look, you don't have much time! There's someone outside the building, entering fast!"

"Damn it!" InuYasha slammed his fist onto the wooden desk, "Who?!"

"I can't tell, the image is too low res.!" Kagura replied, "One person… all in black, can't tell the gender, but… I think they're wearing an orange hat! You've got to get out of there fast before-"

"Kagura," InuYasha cut her off, his previously frantic voice now calm and deadly serious, "Totosai was looking through old files before he vanished."

"That's not import-!"

"Higure. That's who he was looking for." InuYasha's words silenced Kagura. Her face contorted into one of shock and disbelief, terrified by the name. Then there was an electronic beeping. But it hadn't come from Totosai's computer. It had come from Kagura's.

She glanced down at her screen and then said simply, "Get out of there."

With these fearfully ominous parting words, the window closed down. Kagura had hung up.

There was a second of silence, like the calm before the storm. InuYasha didn't move from fear or anticipation or shock or some strange combination of the three. Kagome didn't dare move, for fear that if she did it would set off a rollercoaster of events that would spiral and collide out of her meager control. Her own heartbeat was echoing loudly in her ears. With each beat, the silence got more tangible, more real, more solid, and more dangerous.

Then there was a tiny crumbling sound, like dirt. A speck of concrete dust fell onto Kagome's nose. She and InuYasha glanced up. A small fissure was spreading through the concrete ceiling, the cracking sounds gently following.

"Kagome…" InuYasha said quietly, "Kagura said the guy was outside, right? As in on the first floor?"

She answered just as quietly, her voice little more than a whisper, already having a singling feeling of realization in her stomach, "Yeah?"

"We're five floors underground."

And then everything started.

As if InuYasha's words were the catalyst, the cracks on the ceiling suddenly split and grew. The sounds of cracking and crumbling grew so loud that InuYasha's frantic scream for Kagome to run was almost lost in the roar of earth.

Huge chunks of solid concrete, bigger than cars started to fall from the destroyed roof. The two rushed through the door, InuYasha breaking it down in the process, not like that mattered because the door was about to be crushed in a moment anyways. He grabbed Kagome' arm, throwing her onto his back. He broke out into a fast run, something faster than Kagome could ever had managed. The room collapsed the second they left it, the destruction following at their backs.

They ran to the end of the forgery, InuYasha kicking down the door at the end of the hall and jumping up the inside of the stairwell, landing on the railing every other floor. Behind them, they could hear the loud crashing that told them that the entire forgery had collapsed under the debris.

Kagome looked over her shoulder as the wind rushed past her face as her companion leapt up the flight of stairs. A small figure, dressed all in black had landed in the center of the room behind them. Kagome caught a flash of orange before they got too high up for Kagome to see.

She yelled in InuYasha's ear, "I saw him! The person who caused this! The guy in an orange hat! He's back down there!"

InuYasha swore, some vulgar profanity that was lost in the rush of wind, "We've got to get out of here!" he yelled, landing on the floor that they arrived on.

He let Kagome down, the girl stumbling dizzily before she righted herself. "Kagome," he said seriously, "The lights are back on."

Kagome's breath stopped in her throat, as she desperately looked around. The camera's were facing away from them, thank god. InuYasha ran to the door, kicking down the heavy metal, "There's no time! They know we're here now, so there's no damn point in sneaking around anymore!"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door, stepping over the metal slab that lay abandoned and crumpled on the carpet like a dead bug. Kagome grabbed the scarf that was around her lower face and adjusted it so that it covered her entire head, only leaving a tiny gap for her to see through. InuYasha tugged his hood lower and lower, and then he ran through the room, pulling Kagome behind him like a dog on a leash.

At the end of the room, InuYasha yanked open the window and jumped out, landing on the rickety fire escape. Kagome swung herself outside, and with far less grace or agility than InuYasha, proceeded to run after him down the fire escape. The stairs swung like they were made of paper beneath her feet, barely any wind causing this. Kagome glanced back over her head to see that it looked as though the entire building was shaking like a leaf. InuYasha jumped over the side and landed on the ground, holding out his arms for Kagome.

She nervously jumped into his arms, feeling giddy and unstable when he set her down on the ground. InuYasha yanked open the door of the dark black car that blended into the night, Kagome getting in on the other side. As they drove out of the alley where the car had been parked and down onto the main street, Kagome glanced back.

She had to stifle a gasp at what she saw. The entire left side of the building was caved in, the roof falling in, each floor crushed to form a v-shape, as though a single stone had fallen from the sky and smashed its way to the ground. Huge chunks of concrete littered the ground as if they had had no more weight than that of a pebble. Metal pipes in the infrastructure had been smashed and ripped and torn like thread. For all the resistance the building had offered, it might as well have been a doll's house.

The loud wail of sirens and the flashing of red and blue lights signaled the arrival of police cars and fire trucks. There was no indication that the figure in the orange hat had fled or was awaiting the authorities. But Kagome might have been mistaken, for it was dark and the rubble cast large pools of darkness across the dirty wreck.

"InuYasha, who could have done that?!" she asked, confused and slightly panicked. Whoever caused that destruction was not someone to mess with, not at all.

"Dunno," he said quickly as the car sped away from the police vehicles that were speeding towards the destruction, "Orange hat or whatever, it doesn't give us a clue."

InuYasha's cell phone rang, the ringing barely audible over the screech of sirens. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he pulled the device out of his pocket and answered, "Yeah?"

There was a pause, "So where did he go?... Right. We're on our way."

"What's happened?' Kagome asked as InuYasha hung up and tossed the phone into the back seat.

InuYasha suddenly turned the car around, driving them down a side street, "Kagura found the security camera footage. Totosai left the building in a car, and Kagura was able to use the street cameras to trace him to his destination. He was dropped off in a shipping building by the coast. He… hasn't left since."

"You think that he could be-" Kagome didn't want to say it.

"Of course I think that, damn it!" InuYasha barked angrily, "If he's dead-!" InuYasha cut himself off and simply fixed his gaze on the road, not blinking, looking suspiciously like he was trying not to cry.

Kagome looked down, "Let's find him, then. Okay?"

* * *

Deep underground, standing in the null point of the wreckage, was a figure dressed in black. Stepping through the rubble like it was nothing, the figure walked over to the twisted remains of a computer. The figure reached a hand covered in deep orange and red fur down and sifted through the rubble. Two long sharp claws delicately picked up a small flashdrive that had been felt behind.

"Got you."

* * *

S-S: So another chapter! We have; a figure in an orange hat, the mysterious name of Higure, a very good hacker, the person who abducted Totosai, and still out there is Naraku: alive or dead? Keeping guessing! I find it funny when you get it wrong…


	10. 10 Sleeping Till You Can't Wake Up

S-S: I got some very weird theories in response to the last chapter. So far… no one is right. But some are very close!

My chapters aren't coming out, dare I say, _too quickly_, are they?

Seriously? I obviously don't own InuYasha. Why is there a doubt about this?

* * *

"Totosai's… he… he's dead." InuYasha muttered, sliding down into his chair, covering his face with his hand. Kagome was collapsed on the sofa next to him, exhausted and feeling sick to her stomach.

It had been horrible. Had they known what they would find upon entering the abandoned warehouse, she doubted that InuYasha would have let her enter. As it was, Kagome had walked alongside InuYasha as they walked through the empty and dilapidated building. And what they had seen… was horrifying. It was Totosai all right, InuYasha had confirmed this upon a sniff of the body. Kagome could tell that whoever he was, he had been an old man. But the rest… impossible to tell. The body had been burnt by flames, little more than charred bones and flesh, rotting, letting the flies and the stench swarm. InuYasha had cried for about half a second when he thought she wasn't looking, and then placed his jacket over Totosai's head and dropped the body respectfully into the ocean.

In the clean and un-burnt house, Kagome felt like she could finally relax for a second. The images were leaving her mind, the stench gone from her nose, and the voices in her head that screamed were quieting. For some reason the death of Totosai made her sad, and she didn't know why. Had she known him before she forgot? Was he a part of her past?

"Any idea who?" Sesshomaru asked, clearly too tired to be upset or worried over this development.

InuYasha gave him a look, "You know damn well who. I told Kagura what I found in Totosai's files. Higure. The body was _burnt_, Sesshomaru. To a _crisp_. Damn it all," he swore under his breath and his eyes glared with vengeance.

His brother rested his chin on his hands, "How could it be Higure? I know you want to find the person behind Totosai's murder, we all do, but you have to think about how illogical this all seems. There are others who use burning as a method of murder."

"Umm…" Kagome interrupted, feeling slightly awkward because they all knew what they were talking about and she had no clue, "Who exactly is Higure? And why is this bad?"

This time it was Kagura who replied, "Higure is not a _who_," she said coldly, taking a sip of tea.

"Then-" Kagome began to ask.

"Higure is a family." InuYasha explained, spitting out the name like a curse, "We fought them in the war," seeing Kagome's confused and surprised expression, he elaborated, "The last war."

Kagome tried to think about that, to make sense of it, but was drawing up total blanks – as per the unfortunate usual when dealing with all things demonic, "War? Last war? What, WW11?" she asked.

"Not a human war," Sesshomaru explained, "There have been a series of demonic wars that humans have had no participation in. The last war ended over one hundred years ago. We fought against the Higures and their allies. The Higures are a family, they specialize in fire techniques and the most powerful have even used lava, but they consider burning to be their 'signature', if you will, and take pride in it. Hence why my little brother thinks that they are back," he gave InuYasha a pointed look, "They are _dead_. You were the one who slew the last of them, how can you think that they are alive?"

InuYasha sighed and began to list, "The file of Totosai's. There was no other reason for him to look them up, the old geezer wasn't the nostalgic type. His body was burnt, that's how they tend to kill. And…" he looked down, "They fit, okay? Besides, there is no one else that I can think of! It can't be Naraku, he's _dead_, and it can't be anyone abusing the Shikon-no-Tama because that's _destroyed_, and no other demon clan fits the damn bill!"

_No it's not_. Kagome pressed a hand to her temples, wishing for the voices to stop! Why do they always speak when the Shikon-no-Tama got discussed? Why wouldn't they just disappear?! _Not dead not gone not dead not gone. The jewel is not gone because if it is then that means that someone else has it and no one else can have it! No one can have it!_

_No one!_

_Not ever!_

"Shut _up_!" Kagome yelled, covering her ears with her hands, trying anything, desperately hoping for the voices to stop.

The three others at the table turned and looked at Kagome. InuYasha hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, "Kagome… are you okay?"

Kagome slowly removed her hands from her ears, slowly, because the voices could come back at any second and she didn't want that, "InuYasha… the… voices… they won't shut up. I need them to stop but they just don't shut up and they say that… people aren't dead or destroyed or…" Kagome needed silver. Silver would stop the voices. Where was silver? Silver had to be here!

He grabbed her hands and placed them on her lap, "Hey… the voices can shut up if you want them to, okay? Just… don't mind them." he said.

Why was he telling her to ignore them? If she listened to them, then her memories might return. If she listened, then she might know more, remember more. Wasn't that what InuYasha wanted? Her to remember what happened? Kagome stood up, "I have to go. I have school tomor- today. Um... in a few hours, actually. You've got my number, so call me if you find anything."

InuYasha took her hand, "Hey, I'll drive you home."

* * *

On the other side of Tokyo was a small set of apartment buildings. The place was tucked between two larger buildings that overshadowed it, and across the street were similar buildings. This particular set of apartments was very inconspicuous, although the slightly peeling paint revealed both a second color underneath and a half-hearted attempt to add life to the building. Plants that weren't watered quite often enough dotted the edges of rusty metal balconies, the faded green leaves never achieving the sun they needed to live.

Despite effort on the owners part, it isn't a very nice building by any counts. Oh, it's located in a nice enough neighborhood, and the rent is pretty cheap, but there is nothing to liven up the place. But although the occupants of room 48 are used to far better, it is safe, and that is what matters.

In that particular room are four people. From the noise coming from the main room and kitchen, two were arguing, possibly about food – they may even have been discussing how to take over the world and the other two occupants wouldn't notice. In the bedroom, one person sits stiffly on a swivel chair. There was a single desk that was filled to the brim with papers and a laptop and books of strange reading material – any and all school books are lying on the floor. The bed was situated near a small window through which the early morning light poured, the widow was just large enough for a person to slide through – a fact well noticed by the occupants.

But the bed was occupied by the second figure. The second figure was lying strangely, as if asleep. It was a girl, about seventeen or eighteen in age. The unusually prominent bone structure suggested that she might have held a strong beauty at one point in life, had things gone differently. As it was, her face was thin and flushed, her lips constantly open to let out the large puffs of air that came as if coughs. Her entire body seemed too thin, not like she was starved, for her pallor suggested a sickness. She had been tucked neatly into bed, the white sheets pulled up to her chest, her arms lying on top – as if for a hospital. The girl's eyes were closed to the world, the eyelashes brushing her cheeks as she twitched in her sleep. Her hair was a pale purple – the color seemingly bleached out by lack of proper nutrition – and each strand had been brushed neatly and with care

The first figure looks like the healthier twin of the first, similar face, even a similar body structure. But this one has had all the luck in life, for she is healthy and her long purple hair has been tied up, the color remaining and more lustrous. This one wears a red kimono top and dark denim jeans, the short sleeves showcasing a peculiar red tattoo that she displays like a trophy. Her hands are nervously twisted into knots as she watched the sick girl with a concerned and worried look.

"Suki?" a kinder voice asked from the other room. A figure, dressed in a black Chinese style top and shorts peered her head around the corner. Her long black hair fell in a sleek line down her back, dark eyes looking with concern at the older girl, "How is Chimaki-chan? Any difference?"

Suki didn't remove her watchful gaze from her sleeping twin, "No," she replied tiredly, with the look of someone who spent the entire night up keeping watch, "She's the same. It's… never been this bad before."

Tsubaki nodded sadly, "Yeah. I've got Ichida making some more tea in the kitchen. Should I tell her to use the caffeinated kind?"

She nodded, her purple bangs falling in front of her face like a curtain, "That would be great. I… can't leave her like this. What with her disability to begin with…" her hands began to shake, "and now… I don't know what'll happen to her. I… I keep thinking that one day I'll come home and she…"

"Hey," Tsubaki placed a hand on her shoulder, "Stay home from school today. You'll have to come by this afternoon for archery club of course, but I'm sure we can speed through that, and besides…" she gave the sleeping figure a look of pity before she directed the same look to Suki, "She can only get better. Once this passes, then the only thing left to deal with will be him. And it's not like he's going to hurt her anymore. We've followed his instructions to the letter. Chimaki-chan is going to be just fine once his vendetta is done with and then we can leave."

Suki scoffed, although it might have been a bit of a laugh, "I don't know. He may not keep his word. Tsubaki," her head twitched towards the younger girl, "Do you think that we… might not ever leave this?"

"Too hard to say," Tsubaki replied, "And it all depends on what you mean by 'this'. But you, me, and Ichida… we're all going to make sure that Chimaki-chan stays safe. You know that."

Suki's lips quirked upwards into a tiny smile, "Yeah. I know. We're all going to be idiots till the end."

Tsubaki nodded, "If being an idiot means I can protect you guys, then I'd rather be stupid," she dropped her hand from Suki's shoulder and walked out of the room, "We'll get back to work, okay? Try… try to get a little rest before the club."

"Yes," Suki whispered, knowing that she wouldn't sleep for even a second.

Ichida arrived, pressed a mug of warm tea into Suki's hand and told her that there was food waiting in the oven in case she got hungry. Then she got some more cold water for Chimaki and draped a blanket around Suki's shoulders, "Take care of yourself okay?" she said before she and Tsubaki left for school, the door shutting behind them, leaving Suki alone with her unresponsive sister.

Suki took a tiny sip of the tea, her eyes never leaving Chimaki. Is she blinked, her sister could slip silently out of life.

* * *

"Higurashi-san."

"_Higurashi-san."_

"_Higurashi-san_, wake up."

Kagome's eyes snapped open, and she dazedly turned her head to look at her teacher, "Oh, sorry Saiseki-sensei. What was the question?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes. Damn, she hadn't been able to get any sleep last night what with the sneaking around with InuYasha. She had barely had enough time to get sneak home, get changed, and pretend to her mother that she hadn't been out all night. She was in serious need of coffee or some other form of caffeine to boost her system. She had slept right through lunch, ignored math class, and fallen asleep on her painting during art – there was still a slight blue stain in her hair. But it seemed as though history was the one class that she would not allowed to doze through.

Saiseki-sensei sighed, "Class ended three minutes ago, Higurashi-san."

Kagome gulped and glanced up at the clock. Damn. School was already out and she was still sleeping through class! Oh man, and she had to get to the archery club! Suki would kill her if she was late again… "Sorry sensei…" she muttered, "I won't do it again. I'm just really tired."

"Bad night?" he asked, sitting down on top of the desk opposite her.

"Bad dreams," Kagome said, settling for her other sleep issue – the one besides staying up all night because she broke into two buildings, was attacked, and found a corpse –, "Hopefully they'll go away soon. It's so very aggravating…" she continued rambling, feeling as though she had to tell someone, and somehow she didn't want to seem weak in InuYasha's eyes, "I keep dreaming that I'm standing inside this vortex of darkness. These two people always scream, there's some buzzing as well, and blood. Then… I'm holding a bow and arrow and I try to shoot something, but then there's red and silver and I wake up," she glanced up at her teacher, "What do you think it means?"

He looked surprised, but at the same time, deeply interested, "No idea," he said slowly, "But I think that you should try to find out what these dreams mean. Who knows, they could be important."

Kagome nodded, thinking over the words in her head as she politely excused herself and hurried out of class.

Should she think about these dreams? Were they important? Did they have anything to do with her memories? The voices – strangely enough – said nothing in response to this new input. Did this mean that they agreed? Disagreed? Kagome bounded down the stairs and scampered into the archery club room like a fugitive from justice. She had made sure to arrive early, dropping off her borrowed bow and arrows before school started.

As she hurried to get changed, she noticed that Suki's locker was empty. That was weird. Had she skipped class? Ignoring it, Kagome reached into her bag and pulled out a small white piece of paper that she slid into the nametag holder. Kagome Higurashi, her locker read. Perfect. It was like she really belonged. Archery club always felt right. It could be weird, or confusing, or scary, or even life-threatening. But there was something about holding a bow in her hand and having a quiver strapped to her back that seemed so right.

She stepped out, tucking her necklace under her shirt as per normal. Ichida was pulling bows out of the cupboard, Tsubaki was setting up the quivers of arrows, and Suki was nervously pacing the room. Nervous? Suki was never nervous. She must be angry instead. And indeed, when Suki glanced up to see Kagome enter the room, she scowled and barked, "Took your damn time."

"Sorry, I was caught up by Saiseki-sensei," Kagome tried to explain.

Suki's frown deepened, "No excuses! Grab your bow and let's get started," she ordered, slinging her own bow under her arm as well and turning to address the three of them, "Okay everybody, as you may or may not know, the archery competition is coming up. Clubs and teams from all over the country are going to be arriving in Tokyo in a few weeks, so we should get ready as well," she turned to Ichida, "Ichida! You are the worst out of all of us! So today, we are going to focus on your improvement. You will shoot, we will watch and assist. Ready?"

Ichida sighed and dramatically picked up her bow like she was going to her death sentence, "Okay, I'm ready."

Kagome soon discovered that helping Ichida improve was not all that bad a way to spend an afternoon. The redhead took criticism with a smile and serious resolve, honestly trying hard to get better despite Suki's constant comments about her lack of natural talent. For some reason, Suki seemed more at angry today, especially at Kagome. Kagome didn't really do anything to anger her, save being late, but Suki kept finding fault. She yelled at her for being too rude, for not being honest enough, and for not demonstrating properly. It was a little puzzling.

Normally, Kagome would have been yelling back and getting just as furious, but there was something strange about how Suki was. She was twitchy, as if a jolt could knock her down, and although she kept up her usual sadistic and clever banter, it seemed more forced than natural. And then when she called a finish almost an hour before they had gone before, Kagome could tell that she was eager to leave. Suki was the first one out of the room and the first to be finished changing. Tsubaki and Ichida must have known, but Kagome was still left in the dark.

So now Suki had a secret. Another thing to add to Kagome's fast growing list of problems.

* * *

S-S: And thus our new characters develop and grow in mystery! What are those three hoping to get out of? What is wrong with our new addition, Chimaki? Who on earth killed Totosai? Are the Higures back? And will Kagome ever get a good night's sleep?!


	11. 11 Pieces of the Past

S-S: Thank you all so much for the great reviews, they light up my day better than rainbows and sunshine and unicorns and crack ever can!

Yes, I do in fact own InuYasha. What? Takahashi says different? Weeeeelllll f*ck.

* * *

"Here's the flashdrive. It was found in the wreckage, they must have abandoned it or something when they ran."

"Good job."

Two figures stood in the dark, the shadows of nearby trees casting their figures into black and grey silhouettes. The first figure stood stiffly, arms ramrod straight at their sides, unmoving, perhaps not even daring to blink. The second was more relaxed, far more comfortable, clearly in their element. Danger was their business, clearly. The second even sounded like they were smirking as they talked.

"And?" the first asked, voice tense.

The second's head shook slightly, "Not yet. There are still two more known targets, and," the figure cast a look at the flashdrive he held in his hands, "Possibly more."

"Hmph," the first crossed their arms, "The first target? No one too extreme, I trust? The last turned out to be far more dangerous than you mentioned."

"Oh, no one battle-worthy. Just some old flea that lived too long."

* * *

Kagome tsked and shoved another slice of omelet into her mouth, "You shouldn't have come to my school, InuYasha," she muttered darkly, munching with stubborn pride.

"Hey don't get all prissy on me, I just wanted to make sure you're safe, is all." InuYasha crossed his arms in defiance.

The two were sitting on top on an old storage shed, their feet dangled off the side of the tiny building. The storage shed also happened to be situated on the roof. Their backs were to the railing but they still had a very nice view. The metallic skyscrapers of Tokyo were certainly living up to their name, the tall buildings looking so sharp as if they really were capable of gouging the sky. Mountains in the distance looked small and flat in comparison, the distance-faded green seeming out of place with the metal. Small sea birds flew off somewhere, their wings little more than spots on the sky.

A gentle breeze tickled Kagome's skin, pulling her hair free from behind her ears, and threatening to tug off InuYasha's red hat and expose his ears to the world.

Kagome sighed, placing down her chopsticks and swirling them around in her rice. It was difficult to be angry at InuYasha, especially when he seemed so eager to please her, "It doesn't matter all that much, I suppose, so long as you don't show up in the middle of my classes. I only have one class and archery club after lunch, okay, so I'll see you pretty soon," she said, keeping the bite from her voice.

"You can look after yourself while I'm gone?" he asked nervously.

Her eye twitched, "I can take care of myself! No one is going to attack me here, there are too many people around anyways!" Besides, if they did attack her during archery club, then Suki would probably glare at the intruder and they would die of fright where they stood. Although, that wasn't really a good thing. Suki had been getting more and more tense over the past few days. The purple haired girl had actually broken one of the bows on Wednesday. Kagome could tell that she was one more day away from breaking down and crying. It was rather… strange, to see her so vulnerable.

InuYasha pouted, "Yeah, I know. Still, there is that man in the orange hat to deal with. And I'm not so sure that the Higure's are as gone as we think."

"What exactly happened with the… Higures?" Kagome asked, curious as to the nature of the strange family.

He sighed, "Well, like my brother told you, we fought them and their allies in the last war. Japan was still relatively new to Western culture, and there was some protest in the demonic world as to whether or not we should seal out borders once again. The Higures were the family that wanted to not only seal off Japan, but to destroy all the Westerners currently residing here."

"But that's like genocide. How could anyone else condemn that?" She set her lunch box aside and turned to fully face InuYasha, becoming immersed in the story.

He gave her a look – the kind that said 'stupid' – " We're _demons_ Kagome. There are plenty that have done worse," he continued with his story, "Anyway, so we were against them and they took it beynd debate and decided to fight us. There were a bunch more demon clans behind us, the wolves for one."

"Wolves?" she asked blankly. Wolves seemed familiar. Wolves seemed… very familiar. How?

"Well after Koga died, the wolf clans were pretty much our permanent allies," he rushed through that part of the explanation, not really wanting to mention this Koga person, "Either way, we had a pretty decent sized force. But the Higures had allies of their own, clans that followed them almost blindly. Once it had become clear that we were going to win, the allied clan left alive had already run for it. It was just the Higures struggling to secure a retreat. I killed the leader and his wife after they butchered Ginta, the wolf's leader. Those two were the last of the Higures, and there hasn't been any news of one surviving the war."

Kagome folded her hands in lap and stared at the stitches on her skirt. Koga. Ginta. Where oh were had she heard those names before and why oh why did it hurt to know that they were dead? She knew that they were important, knew that she should be crying but she didn't know why. It was scaring her. Everything that she discovered made her feel more and more lost and alone, like she was some other soul inhabiting someone else's body. So very very wrong and she had no idea how to right things.

And now there was this history lesson, and InuYasha was an odd teacher. It was strange to learn about history when your teacher had been a part of it. The Higures. A clan that fought with fire, burned their victims, and had almost committed genocide. That was terrifying enough. But to know that they had had _allies_, people that supported and agreed with their ideals was sickening. Had she really been involved in similar dealings in her past? Running around back in time – which she still wasn't one hundred percent sure about – and fighting the evils of the world. And she had apparently been _good_ at fighting the evils of the world too, something that made Kagome pause.

If she could just remember then everything would be all better. All better. Like putting a band-aid on a broken bone and hoping it gets fixed. Like putting glow-in-the-dark stars on a ceiling and hoping the nightmares go away.

"They sound awful," Kagome muttered, feeling her stomach churn.

He shrugged, "That's why everyone seems to be hoping that they ain't still around. I think that Totosai's files were a clue," he gave Kagome a serious look, "I think they might be back. And if I've learned anything from my last encounter with them, it's that they'll be looking for allies."

Kagome bit her lip. This wasn't making sense, there were still dots to be connected, guesses to be made. She hesitantly asked, "But why would they kill Totosai? If you're right and the Higures are back, then they'll want revenge, yeah? And if they haven't attacked you yet, then it means they're still gathering allies. So then why kill Totosai?"

He paused, his eyes getting that look of contemplation that Kagome was coming to know – and love –, "I don't know," he admitted, "Maybe one of them was the guy in the orange hat that… no, they use fire, nothing that would've cracked the building… that was more of a warning anyways… or a distraction."

"Well let's start from the top," Kagome said reasonably, "Apart from the very dead Naraku and the Higures, who do you know that wants you dead?"

It had been a sensible question in Kagome's mind – a good way to narrow down the suspects. But InuYasha just paled slightly and replied, "Well don't expect me to make a list!"

"Seriously?" she gave him a stare that perfectly conveyed the 'you have _got_ to be kidding me' aspect of her thoughts.

He chuckled, "I'm pretty damn impressive, ain't I?" he crossed his arms and straightened up a little, clearly trying to pass as far more awesome than her really was.

Kagome simply patted his shoulder condolingly, as if he had just won a consolation prize instead of the nine million jackpot, "There there InuYasha, there there," she said sadly, trying not to burst out laughing.

He looked like he was about to burst out into a fit of yelling or pouting or crying or some strange combination of the three when the loud metallic ding that echoed throughout the school signaled the end of lunch.

Kagome jumped up and threw her things into her book bag, "I'll see you later InuYasha!" she dropped down from the building and landed shakily on the concrete top of the roof, "Don't stalk me, okay," she glared, "Call me instead!"

He gave a wave, but his expression rather minded Kagome of a kicked puppy, "Yeah, see ya."

* * *

The sun hung much lower in the sky, burning the horizon with reds and oranges. The clouds were bathed in a yellow glow, the sky on fire with beautiful color. Kagome stumbled into her room weary and covered in bruises – it had been _archery_, how was she bruised? – and promptly flopped down on her bed, wishing for nothing more than to bury her head under the covers of soft blankets.

She tilted her head up, removing it from the fluffy pillow. Lightly resting her head on her arms, she stared at some random spot on her wall.

Things were getting worse.

Suki was clearly more on edge, flinching at the slightest noise, even the standard twangs and thwacks of the arrow hitting the target. Her cellphone had rang twice and both times she had jumped and ran to answer it as if it was the devil himself calling her. Tsubaki hadn't been to school at all that day, which was peculiar enough on its own. The clever and studious girl seemed like the type to never miss a day of school, even if she did seem like the type to murder her teachers if she got an F. But when Kagome had inquired about Tsubaki's absence, all Suki had done was snap at her and then make her go retrieve arrows.

Kagome had pulled Ichida aside during Suki's second phone call and asked her what was up with Tsubaki. Ichida had just nervously said that she was doing Suki a favor and that it was best not to mention it. Apparently there was something happening with Suki right now, it would all blow over soon, and not to worry. At the end of practice, Suki had dismissed them early again, and then bolted, not even going back to her locker to change out of her archery uniform, simply leaving the school like she was late for the apocalypse.

These troubles were bothering Kagome, and she had the strangest feeling that she was missing something. But she didn't know what. She deeply wanted to help her new friends in any way that she could, but her separate life with InuYasha seemed to be consuming her mind and her thoughts. In that life there were demons to fight and a past to unearth. Secrets lurked behind each turn, every discovery like plot points in a story. There were the villainous Higures and their possible allies to fight. There was a mysterious figure in an orange hat and a brilliant hacker. A murderer and a dead villain from years gone by.

Kagome was on the edge of a metaphorical precipice, hit by winds from both sides and unable to fall. She felt like all the pieces of some complicated puzzle were spread out before her, but she had yet to place them together and make things fit.

"Make things fit…" she muttered to herself.

Perhaps she should begin with her past.

Kagome stood and walked over to her desk. She had no idea what she was looking for, no idea what she would find – if anything – but she was going to look anyway.

She sat down at her chair and began pulling out drawers and looking under many year old papers. Dust, old essays, dust, bad reports, silly notes passed in class, sheets of homework that she hadn't turned in, more dust… oh, a cobweb! If she had swept the Legend of the Shikon-no-Tama into her book bag without realizing, then her subconscious must still be trying to help her make these connections. So maybe, her subconscious had left bits of her past in her room.

After finding a few dozen hairpins, she found a few oddities. A few receipts for far more instant ramen, candy, and potato chips than she had ever bought in her life. That was from about three and a half years ago, from the convenience store five blocks away. There was also a purple crayon stub that had been worn down till there was barely half a centimeter left. Kagome hadn't ever used those crayons; they had been a gift that she had forgotten about. There were a few drawings, little more than a child's scribbles really, drawn in bright colors. Kagome thought she could pick out a cat and a dog, but the images were too faded to really tell.

Dropping these items on the top of her desk, Kagome directed her eye to her closet. She had been meaning to clean that out for a while now, never got around to it, and had gotten used to the mess. Digging through her more recently worn outfits that were stationed in the front of the closet, Kagome's hand closed around something rough, like burlap.

She pulled it out and discovered what exactly it was. It was a faded and dirty yellow backpack, lazily patched at the bottom where it had been previously worn through. Opening it up and turning it upside down, Kagome shook it a few times to make sure that whatever was in there came out. There was only a disposable camera, old and banged up. Placing that on her desk as well, something caught Kagome's eye.

In the back of her closet, surely placed there because she might never wear it again, was her old school uniform for junior high. Why on earth had she kept that? Did it have some importance? Why her old school uniform? Surely there were better things to preserve. Just as she reached for the outfit, her phone rang.

She jumped nervously before scurrying over to her desk and checking the caller ID. Ah, InuYasha was calling her. She flipped it open and answered, "Hello?"

"_Kagome?"_

His voice sounded strangely tense and nervous. Kagome frowned, "Yeah, that's me."

"_You know how I said that me and Sesshomaru were going to check up on some old friends from the feudal era, right?"_

Where was this going? "Yes," she answered tensely.

"_Well we did… And they're dead. All of them."_


	12. 12 The Perfect Way to Hide

S-S: Sorry that this one took a bit longer to get out than some of the previous chapters. And that this one is pretty short… it just ended. I was like 'nooooo! Be longer!' but it just stopped.

I don't own thy most elusive show InuYasha.

* * *

Light sheets of rain pattered onto the ground, spreading ripples and puddles across the concrete ground. The sky was overcast and dark, heavy clouds desperate to drop their water and become light again. A chill blew though the rain, scattering the drops just before they hit the ground. The rain ran down a high roof, pooled at the base of the gargoyles, and hit the ground lazily in front of the church doors. The tall building sat forebodingly, like some creature that would offer either salvation or destruction depending on its mood.

Only a few feet behind the church's back were the graves. Tall and short stones, worn by weather or newer, the names and dates clearer and far fresher. Under the meager protection of a few sparse trees, there was a service going on. A preacher dressed in the black robes of the clergy, holding both hands on the open bible, bending his head slightly so that rain did not fall on the book. The preacher was a strange one, for his ears were covered in dark feathers and there were two blocky tattoo's of some sort above his eyes. Actually, all of the few people gathered were of a similar look. Clawed hands, pointy ears, sharper than normal teeth.

The coffin was closed, but had it been open more visual oddities might have been on display. But the dark wood remained shut, the rain pouring smoothly over the wood and leaving not a single stain on the polish. A few damp flowers resided on the surface of the coffin, white lily petals collecting the water like bowls. A pale stone tombstone marked without a birth date, and the name 'Miyoga'.

Four figures stood to the back of the tiny crowd of mourners. A woman with dark hair pulled into a bun dressed in a black blouse and skirt stood next to a taller man in a suit with long white hair. The man was the only one holding an umbrella, the two stood close enough so that the woman was dry as well. There was a second pair, a girl dressed in a large dark overcoat, her long hair falling damply over her shoulders. She held an umbrella in her hand, but her companion had dropped his to the ground, not really caring enough to pick it up. The rain didn't affect him, it just fell off of his leather jacket. He had silvery hair that was messy, a red hat put on backwards.

"I don't understand," InuYasha muttered, staring at the ground, "What's the point?" he sounded sad, dejected, like he was a child who simply couldn't comprehend the strangeness of the world, "Why kill everyone? It doesn't make sense."

Sesshomaru shrugged, "Vengeance," he said quietly.

Finally glancing up, InuYasha asked, "Who the hell would want vengeance?"

His brother gave him a serious look, "Our other allies from the wars aren't dead. Only those that we knew from five hundred years ago. That means that whoever's done this not only knew of us back then, but desires revenge," InuYasha's eyes widened as he realized what his brother meant, "Who do we know like that?" Sesshomaru finished.

"Do you mean…" Kagome asked, "Are you talking about Naraku?" That didn't make sense. She had thought that they said he was dead. Were they wrong? Were they deadly wrong?

Kagura frowned, her brow furrowing in confusion and fear, "But why? How? He can't be alive, he just can't be!"

"Kagome never saw him die," Sesshomaru murmured to the distressed Kagura, "I'm not saying that it is him, I'm just saying that it's a possibility."

Her dream. What happened? What had exactly happened in the dream? "I shot an arrow," Kagome said, her voice sounding strange and off, even to herself, like she was reading aloud or like she wasn't aware that she was speaking, "And it hit someone. Someone… someone I hated. I was… there was a lot of blood. And screaming. There was screaming. Who was screaming?"

InuYasha was looking at her strangely, "Who did you shoot?" he prompted.

"Don't know. Didn't see him in the dream," she muttered, trying to dive into the memories like they were a forbidden lake.

Breach the surface, remember. Think back. Don't remember about InuYasha and the voices. Just remember the dream. Breach the surface, just enough to see. The rain fell pitter-patter on her umbrella, the droning voice of the clergy, sounds were fading like vanishing into the distance. She looked past what she saw. No rain, no people, no InuYasha.

There was darkness.

_There was darkness._

_She was standing, blood under her feet, horrible stench of the dead like iron, filled with something else like darkness. _

_A sea of darkness. Moving, twisting, curling like something living._

"Darkness. Blood."

_A high-pitched scream, like that of a woman's crying, for someone dead and long gone and not coming back not ever but had come back before so it wasn't so hard to believe that if the woman just sat there and held the body and hoped then the dead one would come back to live once again. The scream morphed into one of fear and then is gone as fast as it reached Kagome's ears. A flash of black hair and then a hand's caught in the darkness and then nothing._

_The darkness shifts in its never ending swirl, trying to touch Kagome, but it can't touch her because it is foul and she pure, and those two are opposites, always opposites._

_And opposites will always fight._

_Then there's another scream, this time a man's. A cry, like yelling 'no', pointless but you have to try because to deny it might stop it from being true because the truth is unbearable. Then there's wind. So very very much wind that Kagome thinks that the entire world might get pulled in by the wind. Then there's buzzing, sinister and evil and then the wind ends. A few beads fall. _

_There!_

"Someone."

_She must hate him because her hands have drawn what she now knows as a bow back so that the string is taunt, and she aims._

"I hate him."

_She let go, the arrow fires. _

_Where!? Where did it hit!? That is so important, and Kagome can barely see through the darkness, but for some reason the arrow she shot had cleared a path through the darkness, a path of purple light, and so she thought she could see someone._

_All she can see is the someone moving as if to dodge before the arrow striking a neck before her vision fills with silver and pain and silver and red and silver._

"He moved. I shot him in the neck."

"_Shit_." InuYasha swore, dragging Kagome back to the surface of her metaphorical memory lake.

She blinked twice, clearing her unusually clear mind so that it was once again foggy, "What?" she asked, bewildered by his reaction. Surely shooting someone in the neck was a good thing if one wanted to kill them, no? What was wrong?

InuYasha stared at her, "To kill Naraku, you have to destroy his heart. Kagome, he moved and… you just trapped him there!"

Oh god. She had no idea now. She had thought that Naraku was dead so there wasn't a villain to fight. She had been wrong and now she had no idea what she was supposed to do. "So he's…" the words wouldn't come, her throat stuck and tying itself into knots that choke her breath.

"He would have been trapped though, so how did he free-" Sesshomaru began to ask.

Kagura interrupted in a hollow voice, "Kanna never returned that day," she was staring off at the preacher, not really paying attention to the ceremony, merely directing her gaze that way, "I'd assumed that she had abandoned the castle as I had when Naraku died. But… he attacked you, it was an ambush. He would have planned it. The bastard always had a back-up plan. He must have instructed Kanna to return to the scene after the battle, in case things didn't go his way."

"So Naraku is alive," InuYasha muttered darkly, "And he's picking off everyone that was either against him, or on our side. The wolf tribes… even Jinenji… and now Miyoga. So when's the bastard going to come for us...?"

Kagome was thinking, and she found herself in the unique position that none of the other three were in. Ignoring her past, she currently had no emotional attachment to anyone that they were discussing. Thus, she was able to see more objectively and without emotional hindrance, "Miyoga was burnt to death as well, right? Maybe Naraku is working with the Higures," she shrugged, "If so, then his goal might be revenge, but he's been whittling away our allies so that we're easier to kill."

InuYasha blinked, like he was struggling to hear those words come out of Kagome's mouth. He frowned contemplatively, "Yeah… that does sound like him. Get someone else to do the dirty work and watch and wait from the sidelines," his frown turned into a scowl, "This fight is going to be the one that the bastard won't survive. We're going to find him first, and then we're gonna get our _own_ revenge."

It made sense. It did.

Everything that InuYasha was saying made perfect logical sense to Kagome. But there was one thing that she was struggling with. She wasn't a killer. She would fight, oh yes, she would fight like a lion when needed but she wasn't a killer. She knew that Naraku deserved it and more, and if there was anyone in the world who needed death, then it was him. But she still wished that there was another way. One that didn't involve killing. There was a side of her that was simply opposed to death, and it was in conflict with the side of her that called for the bastard to pay. Two opposites in her. Opposites will always fight.

* * *

A figure stood in the shadows of the high church walls, resting their back against a pillar. They were hiding in the alcove, as if afraid to step out for fear of being seen. The cold stone was soaking up any heat that the figure might have radiated, and the damp and wet rain outside wasn't making them any drier. But the figure didn't care, just stood there and watched. They saw the coffin lowered into the damp ground, and their eyes followed the dark wood all the way into the soil.

The figure stood watch as dirt was shoveled over the grave, the preacher said his last words, and mourners left. And their eyes followed a girl in a black dress, her long brown hair spilling over her face and her eyes sad, place a bouquet of flowers on the tombstone. They saw how the boy next to her, with the shaggy silver hair and the out-of-place red hat was trying not to cry, needing the help from the girl to approach the grave.

It was strange, how the figure was attending this funeral. By all rights, it was a horrible idea for the figure to be here, if any of the gathering demons caught sight or scent or even the faintest hint of the figure's aura, the figure would be immediately under attack. Fortunately, the shadows did an excellent job of hiding the figure's appearance, and as for other ways of being detected… well… those were being kept hidden well.

The figure reached into a pocket and pulled out a small fragment of a pretty stone. Thank god they had it, or else they would be under attack. It was the only god thing about the figure's current situation. This shard of stone kept away the trouble that the figure had yet to attract. Fuyouheki… the perfect way to hide.

There was more than that, though. There was another odd reason for the figure to be attending the funeral.

Why would the killer see their victim laid to rest?

That answer was simple.

Redemption.

And then the figure turned and vanished because they had spent far too much time here as it was already, and they did have somewhere they desperately needed to be.

* * *

Kagome didn't know why InuYasha had brought her here. He had taken her to this other part of the graveyard, leaving Miyoga's tombstone far behind. Ahead of her, he turned and stopped, standing in front of the gravestone. This one was older, far far older, the stone worn and weathered by many years. InuYasha smiled at the stone, like he was saying hello to whoever was there, "Kagome," he said softly, "I know that you have doubts about killing. You always were way too soft, even back then. You have to kill Naraku."

She looked down at the ground, staring at the raindrops that poured over the cobblestones, "I know…" she muttered, feeling sorry for her weakness.

"You have to," InuYasha titled his head to the grave, "Out of our friends that fought Naraku, this was the only one we could bury. That's what he's done Kagome. There was nothing left of the others to lay to rest. You have to know what he's done and that he will try and do this to us."

Kagome knelt in front of the tombstone and ran her hands over the cold wet rock, feeling out the indentation of a name, "Who was Shippo?" she asked in an almost silent voice, "I know the name," she muttered painfully, "I know it. The name makes my head burst and my heart ache. InuYasha… was he the one that drew pictures with crayons?"

"Yeah. Yeah he was."

"Who ate all those lollipops?"

"He loved sweets."

"I found a disposable camera in my room."

"…Print out the photos."


	13. 13 Photos and Funding

S-S: Hmm… this chapter feels an awful lot like filler to me… What do you guys think? It was necessary… But still… Filler? Or not filler? That is the question.

I seriously don't own InuYasha

* * *

"And who is that?" Kagome asked, pointing to an old woman with an eye patch. She and InuYasha were sitting on the school roof once again, leaning over a few Polaroid photos that she had gotten developed over the weekend. This one held Kagome and the old woman. From the way Kagome was leaning, she had been the one to take the photo, twisting her head to get in the photo as well. The old woman was smiling, but she looked more caught mid-smile and mid-curious. Kind of a 'what the heck is that?' look while still being friendly.

"Oh, that's Kaede-ba-chan," InuYasha said with his casual gruff fondness, "She was Kikyo's little sister and she was also the head priestess in the village," he paused, like he was trying to think of something important to say, something meaningful, "…She really liked it when you brought back coffee," he finished.

Kagome nodded, "She kind of looks like everybody's grandmother," she noted, running her finger over the laminated edge.

He grinned, "Oh yeah, the ba-chan totally was. She was always getting on my case when we fought with each other."

This peaked Kagome's interest, "We fought?"

InuYasha paled slightly and waved his hand in an over the top nonchalant way – as if desperately trying to say 'no big deal' – "Once or twice… a lot… It's all in the past, I swear!"

"Oh?" she asked, not believing him the in slightest. She leaned forward and looked him in the eye, "What did we fight about?" she inquired teasingly.

He looked away from her and began to do that manly pout of his again, "Just about Kikyo, but it-"

"She was the woman you loved right?"

"Past tense, I promise!" he yelled, furiously waving his hands back and forth while Kagome giggled. It was nice to see him looking more like himself after the funeral on Friday. He had remained downcast for days, acting like he was raining instead of the sky. But like the rain had passed, so did his sadness. And now there was just a fire, a burning desire. And rightly so too, if all of Kagome's friends and acquaintances had been killed over the past two and a half years, she would want a bit of just revenge too.

Kagome's smile suddenly turned to a frown, "InuYasha, what was Kikyo like?" Who was Kikyo? Why did Kagome know the name? If InuYasha had once loved her, then was there jealousy? But when Kagome tried to place a feeling to the name, all she could feel was pity.

The question gave InuYasha a moment of pause as well, "…uh… Well… Kikyo… Well for start, she looked a lot like you. Not a lot, but you were her reincarnation. That might've been why you could sense the jewel shards… Uhh… But she was a lot more uptight than you, and she seemed more spiteful…" he sighed, "I don't know how to describe her the right way. All I can say is… well… I like you more, a bit, well a little, I mean-"

"Thank you, InuYasha," Kagome said, sparing him the embarrassment of his cheeks becoming even redder, "That means a lot to me."

The two relaxed in a peaceful silence, Kagome leaning back on her hands and trailing her eyes across the sky. The small pile of photographs lay forgotten to the side, only allowing a few to be looked at each day for fear that the memories become too much to handle. It was in small amounts to be sure, and a lot of it hurt, but piece by tiny piece, Kagome was beginning to get the shape of her past.

The past formed slowly, never told to her outright like for a history lesson, more told in small bits that one had to gather together into a heap before one understood what the hell was being discussed. Kagome liked this. She liked learning about her past because that was how she learned about who she was. Was this how all patients with amnesia felt? Or was she the only one that felt as though she was two people – past Kagome and now Kagome. She was unsure if the two would ever meet half-way, but she was fine slowly working on it.

"So…" InuYasha said conversationally, "Why are you up here all the time? I figured you would be giggling with friends or… whatever the heck girls your age do…"

Kagome felt like a cartoon tick mark was forming on her head. Unbeknownst to her dog-eared companion, she had been spending the past week and a half avoiding Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi. The three would not go to the roof under normal circumstances, so Kagome found it to be the perfect place to hide from them. And to hide from Hojo. She shuddered.

Damn her Hojo problem would never solve, would it? Would he never get that she simply wasn't interested in him? In truth… she was more interested in InuYasha – oh god, did she really just say that? – than in him.

"Well… uh… I'm sort of… well…" Kagome stuttered, not really sure what she was saying.

"KAGOME-CHAN!"

Two seconds later Kagome found her waist glomped by strong tan arms. A brightly colored orange mop of hair was bouncing up and down as Ichida squealed, "Yays! We found you!" she was grinning happily – like she had just gotten the best present for Christmas – and she was rubbing her head against Kagome's shoulder like a cat.

Kagome sat there for a second, totally shocked, very confused, and having absolutely no idea what was going on – had she just been giving an imploding super hug of doom? Then after a moment her brain managed to restart, and she hesitantly pushed Ichida off her, and discretely tucked the stack of photos that was lying on the roof back into her pocket, lest questions be asked. "Ummm… hi?" her squeak came out more question than address, and she tried again, "So what are you doing here?"

Ichida happily let go and sat down next to them with her legs folded beneath her, "Oh well me and Tsubaki-chan-" she turned and yelled down the side of the building, "HEY TSUBAKI-CHAN! I FOUND KAGOME-CHAN!" then turned back to Kagome, "-were looking for you! Who's your friend?"

Blinking suddenly, InuYasha seemed to be shocked that such a weird person had addressed hi, and hesitantly gave Ichida an evaluating stare, "I'm _going_," he said in deadpan, "See you Kagome," he said, giving her a good-luck-you'll-need-it look and a wave.

Then he jumped down the side of the shed and landed firmly on the roof- only to run right into Tsubaki who was on her way up. He paused, realized that she must be the one that Ichida was talking about, and shuddered – as if thinking that she was just as crazy. And then InuYasha walked off, heading back to wherever he was when he wasn't with Kagome.

"Bye!" Kagome yelled to his retreating back.

Ichida looked like she might cry, "I didn't make your friend leave, did I?"

Before Kagome could open her mouth to reassure the flailing girl, Tsubaki landed on the top of the shed, sitting down next to them, "Yes, Ichida, you did," she said calmly.

And then Ichida promptly buried her head in her arms, "I'm sorry Kagome-chan! I'm sorry! How will you ever forgive me!?" she cried like a desperate child.

Unsure of what to do, Kagome tentatively reached out and patted Ichida gingerly on her shoulder, as if the slightest touch could cause the emotional girl to explode, "It- it's fine Ichida. Um… you're forgiven," she said as reassuringly as she felt that she could.

Ichida peaked her head up over her arms, "Y-you mean it?" she sniffled sadly. After Kagome's hesitant nod, Ichida squealed again, "Oh yays! Thanks a billion!"

After Ichida had detached herself from her arm encasement, Kagome asked, "So why were you guys looking for me? Ichida's description was… vague." She did try to sound as kind as possible while saying that.

Tsubaki shrugged, "Well since Suki's been skipping pretty much every day of school lately, we were bored and I said that we could ditch school until the bell rang and archery club started, and then all of a sudden Ichida came up with the idea that we should find you," she sent a pointed look at Ichida, "Even if that meant searching the entire school top to bottom."

From her still-cheerful expression, Ichida clearly hadn't gotten the memo, "So we were looking for you and-"

"And now the bell is about to ring so we might as well go to archery club, ne?" Tsubaki finished calmly, standing and dusting off her skirt elegantly. Just before Kagome could open her mouth to ask why she thought that the bell was going to ring, the bell rang.

Before the echoes of the ringing could finish vibrating throughout the school, Ichida had cheerfully jumped up and pulled a shocked Kagome off the shed roof, Tsubaki walking calmly ahead of them.

They went all the way to the archery club in this manner – Ichida pulling, Tsubaki calm as ever, and Kagome confused as hell.

As they were almost there, Kagome got back enough sense to ask, "Um…. I wasn't here on Friday… Suki's not mad about that, is she?"

Tsubaki shrugged and unlocked the club room door, "No. She was not here Friday either. And as such, we have no desire to incur her wrath," she glanced at Kagome, "For all legal purposes, you were here Friday. Also, I doubt that Suki will be here today either."

Oh. Although Kagome was normally a bit scared of Suki – particularly her methods of shock therapy – it was rather saddening to know that she was not there. Going by Suki's penchant for punctuality, it was actually a bit strange to know that she was not going to show. Something important must be calling her away, because she didn't seem like a person to ditch her friends for a club that seemed so important to her.

And then Tsubaki flung open the archery club door and they stepped inside.

"You're all late." Suki huffed.

The purple haired girl was decked out in her archery gear, leaning against the wall. She was glowing with some sort of happiness, something so strong that it couldn't be covered up by the frown that she was trying to put on. The way she carried herself was so different from how she had been for the past week. Her lean against the wall was casual, relaxed, and the smile that threatened to play across her lips was light and almost carefree. Something had changed. The heavy weight that had been previously pressing down on her shoulders was lifted.

Tsubaki and Ichida exchanged a smile, small on Tsubaki and large and grinning on Ichida. "You're back!" Ichida squealed happily, running up to Suki and giving her a large hug around her waist.

Shockingly enough, Suki didn't push the younger girl away, even hesitantly returning the hug. Strange indeed. It seemed that whatever had changed to make Suki show up, not only did Tsubaki and Ichida know about it, but they knew of its significant importance as well.

Suki pushed Ichida off and clapped her hands together, regaining her authoritative tone in an instant, "All right, let's get started!" she paused, and then added, "Also, a couple of announcements before we begin. This weekend, the National Archery completion is happening! We need a team of three to compete, and luckily enough we have four now, so we're good on that… Let's see…" she pondered thoughtfully for a moment before adding, "So just practice damn it!"

"Kyah!" Ichida cried, "I'm never going to be good enough!" she looked like she was about to burst into tears again.

Suki gave her a hard stare, "You have the strength to make the target, but what you lack is accuracy! We'll be focusing on you again today. Stop complaining damn it!" she coughed and cleared her throat, "Also, everyone needs to pay a thousand yen to contribute to club funds. No complaining, cough it up!"

Was she even allowed to do that? Was this legal? But when Ichida and Tsubaki began turning out their pockets, Kagome figured that she had better had to – or else evoke Suki's wrath. So with much internal groaning, Kagome reached into her book bag and pulled out the required amount of money. Suki walked up to them and held out her hand. Each of the girls reluctantly turned over the money.

This seemed to appease Suki – like some strange deity – and she stepped back to the front of the room, "Another thing," she said, "Cancel any dinner plans that you had for tonight. We're having a team dinner! Don't worry, it's my treat," she said cheekily, waving the stack of money in the air like a fan, "Now go get changed!" she barked.

All three of them scurried off to the changing rooms like the devil was on their heels.

Was Suki even allowed to do that? Kagome felt very cheated. In fact, she _had_ been cheated! Scammed! Swindled! Taken malicious advantage of! And yet she wasn't as angry about this as she might have been. Why? Because Suki seemed happy. And she had been so down, so stressed, so tense, that it was such a huge relief to see her returned to her carefree and teasing normal self. And that was very relieving in and of itself.

Kagome noticed something else that was odd. Tsubaki and Ichida were changing behind a row of lockers, out of Kagome's sight. But before Kagome walked back out of the locker room, she heard Ichida whisper to Tsubaki in an excited voice, "This means that Chimaki-chan's condition is stable, doesn't it?"

Tsubaki had 'shusshed' her before Kagome could hear more. But who was Chimaki? And what had been wrong with her?

* * *

S-S: Ps: I have noticed that my chapters seem to be getting shorter. The next one will be much longer, I promise!


	14. 14 The Internal Blade

S-S: I would like to apologize for the last chapter. It seems as though my computer made some weird error and the pervious chapter was accidentally posted twice instead of the newer one. Sorry for the inconvenience that caused…

Yes. I own InuYasha. *runs from lawyers*

* * *

Light piano music – of the sort reserved for elevators or restaurants – floated through the sound system. The restaurant had large glass windows that allowed the dark night-light to enter the room, immediately fought off by the yellow glow that radiated from hanging ceiling lamps that were more like chandeliers. Tall, glass double doors stood as a gateway to the city outside, people entering and exiting at their leisure. A small podium was situated near the door – so that it was the first thing an entering customer saw – and behind this stood the hostess, dressed in a fancy skirt and blouse and looking as regal as the rest of the dining room.

Dark mahogany wood lined the tops and bottoms of the lightly wallpapered walls, the light yellow paper pattered softly with some Victorian-esque design that no one cared to name. Lush red curtains made of crushed velvet and trimmed with something just as soft hung from the walls and sloped partly in front of windows. Round tables were placed orderly in the center of the room, surrounded by chairs cushioned with red. Equally plush red booths stood against the windows, allowing the dinners to gaze outside at the city night-life. In one booth, four people were sitting and eating, a team meeting.

"So what's with the sudden desire to have a team dinner? And in such a fancy restaurant, no less," Kagome asked over her – absurdly delicious – plate of ravioli.

"Magic," Suki replied in deadpan. She had tied her purple hair in a bun for the occasion, but had not dressed similarly. Her long red top was ripped around the waist, showing her black undershirt, and her skinny jeans were in a strange state of half torn and half partly repaired. Her elbow length red gloves had the fingers cut off entirely – apparently by rusted kitchen scissors, going by the heavy fraying.

Tsubaki coughed and translated, "What our dear team leader means to say is 'I just felt like it, please drop the topic of conversation'. Right?" She took another bit of the red meat that lay elegantly on her plate and patted her mouth daintily on a napkin. Tsubaki it seemed, _had_ dressed up for the occasion, or maybe she simply dressed like this all the time. She had on a black Chinese style long sleeved shirt and matching shorts. Her boots were a soft black leather and went up past her knees in a strange style that looked good only on her.

Slurping up her pasta, Ichida commented cheerfully, "Well either way, it was awful nice of you to treat us, Suki!" The redhead wore a forest green halter top that matched her eye color perfectly, her archery gloves – that she never seemed to go without – and light denim skinny jeans with tan colored loose boots. Her hair was lightly tussled to get that movie-star look and she had smudged dark kohl on her eyelids.

Grinning sadistically, Suki chuckled in a soft undertone, "Yes, praise me more!" and then took another bite of food. Kagome thought that eating pizza had never looked so devilish.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're kind of creepy?" Kagome commented offhandedly, not really sure that she should have said it, but feeling as though it had to be mentioned.

Suki shrugged, "They never really stop," she replied honestly, "Well, except for Tsubaki and Ichida. They've shut up."

Tsubaki scoffed and rested her chin on her hand, "Only because we grew tired of pointing out every time that you have acted oddly. If we had not ceased, then we would never shut up."

"It's true you know," Ichida chimed in with a smile.

The frown that contorted her face was unserious as Suki retorted, "Oh shut your damn traps. See if I ever by you all food again."

Ichida whined, "Awwww, but _Suki_! You were so _nice_today!" she pouted at the purple-haired girl, giving her a strange 'puppy eyes' look.

Suki's eye twitched, "Good. I dislike being _nice_."

"There is nothing wrong with being nice," Kagome said, "You should be nicer. Maybe if you stop being nice, people won't want to be around you." It was a valid concern. Outside of Tsubaki and Ichida, Kagome had never seen Suki interact with anyone – unless when goading for a fight – and it would not have been a difficult assumption to say that the girl scared people off.

Suki grinned menacingly and leaned in so that her face was right up to Kagome's, red eyes twinkling with the grin, "Maybe… that's a good thing. Maybe you should be running, neh Kagome-_chan?_"

Kagome felt a strange urge to run for her life as a tiny shiver crept down her spine. Then Ichida casually punched Suki on the shoulder and laughed, "You're such a joker, ain't cha?"

Suki sat back and rubbed her shoulder with a wince, "How many times Ichida, how many times have I told you not to punch me and Tsubaki? You're way too strong for that."

Ichida pouted and looked down at her plate, her mouth quivering, "I'm sorry Suki. I won't do it again." Kagome had to take pity on Ichida. Verbally attacking her was rather like kicking puppies. In other words, you didn't do it.

Tsubaki sighed and patted the girl reassuringly on the shoulder, "It's all right, she wasn't trying to be mean," she said calmly – as though she had spent many years fixing Ichida's emotions. This seemed to do the trick, for Ichida stopped pouting and her eyes returned to their normal state of cheer.

Kagome coughed – rather a bit more loudly than she might have needed to – and asked, "Um, Suki? Are you going to answer my original question or not?"

Suki blinked, "What question?"

"The one about why are we having a team dinner in such an expensive restaurant…" Kagome prompted with a casual wave of her hand. Had Suki really forgotten?

"Oh." Suki paused and shrugged as if she wasn't too sure of the answer herself, "Well… we have an important competition coming up, so good luck I guess… Also, well… It was damn past time that we had a proper team sit-down and bonded. Don't ask dumb questions," she added, taking another bite of pizza.

Yes, there was that competition. Kagome had been practicing for it, actually, even though their team was mainly focused on getting Ichida up to par. To her dismay, although Kagome was apparently the best on the team – second best when Tsubaki 'cheated' – she hadn't been improving much. Naturally good would only get her so far. Especially when everything that InuYasha said seemed to indicate fights to the death in her near future. For her, this competition would be a good way to measure her skills against a multitude of other opponents.

Glancing up, Kagome hesitantly asked, "Can one of my friends come to watch the competition?"

Suki shrugged, "Sure. Don't much care who comes so long as they don't distract you."

* * *

The moon shone like a bright beacon in the sky, illuminating the land beneath it. Dots of light were stars that seemed to have been scattered like bread crumbs throughout the heavens, adding to the majesty of the night. Huge wide open field was all the eye could see for miles around. Very far off in the distance was a dark red outcropping of something that might have been a mountain, but there was no other high ground besides it. Just large plains of grassland underneath large open skies, the horizon stretching out into impossibly far places in the distance. There were few trees, just simple scrubby shrubs that dotted the blank slate of land here and there. No rivers marked the land, no mountains or valleys to separate the area.

It was a land beautiful in its wild majesty, gorgeous for its emptiness. Striding through the tall dry grasses was a man, walking as slowly as if he had all the time in the world – nowhere to get to and no real reason to go there. His skin was dark, tanned by the hot sun that must have scorched the red soil during the day, and he was very lean and muscular. A black tank top and olive green cargo pants marked him as a man of adventure, not of the modern life. Heavy brown boots were dusted with dirt and mud and years of walking. Strange tattoos that were strangely reminiscent of crocodile skin patterned his right arm and crawled up his neck. His short blond hair had been bleached into a corn-flower yellow by the sun, the messy strands tucked haphazardly behind his ears. His face was a peculiarity as well, for the crocodile scales continued to cover the right side of his face. Odd colors for eyes as well, the right yellow and animalistic, the left baby-blue.

Suddenly the figure paused on his endless trek, one foot still in the air, "Who're you?" he asked, his voice heavy with an Australian accent. At first he seemed to be speaking to no one or himself, but then a second figure materialized as if from thin air, appearing without preamble.

The second figure was far different, dark wavy hair and dark eyes. This one was a man as well, but from a far different world than that of the crocodile man. He wore silken robes and heavy hakama pants, a deep purple coat being tugged on by the wind. Pale skin, sharp face, cold eyes, and a malicious smirk that was somehow charismatic as well. "Are you Bryni, the demon with the sword in your stomach?" he asked calmly.

The crocodile man scoffed and looked away, "That accent… clothes… You're a Jap, ain't ya? I don't do deals with demons 'o your type. Leave me to me wanderings and I'll leave you be."

"You are Bryni," the dark haired man stated calmly – as if the crocodile man had never spoken – "I heard rumors of your prowess with hypnosis and swordsman ship five hundred years ago. You should consider yourself important since I took the trouble to seek you out."

Bryni laughed once, short and sharp and dry as the desert, "Then ya should know that I'm not a part 'o society anymore. I retreated to the outback of me own free will, and I'm not in the business of helping some damn Jap. Get lost mate, and hope that I don' see you around here again."

The man did not move, neither retreating or advancing, simply staying. Perhaps he had not heard what the crocodile man had said, or perhaps he simply did not think him a threat, "I wish to see your blade," he stated, as though it was fact that everything he wished for, he got.

"You an' the rest of the world. Why don' ya go back to Japan for blades? If yer on a suicide quest 'm sure that you can find InuYasha an' ask to see the Tetsusaiga," Bryni bristled and he chuckled at his joke.

This got the other man's attention, "You have heard of InuYasha?" he inquired, keeping his calm tone.

Bryni cast him an incredulous look, "Yer stupid for a Jap. Every demon's heard 'o InuYasha. Strongest demon I ever met, even fer a half demon," he shuddered, "I wouldn't want to cross that brother 'o his either. Whole family practically rules the demon world… Never admit it, mind, but they terrifies the heck outa me and whole bunch 'o others."

The dark haired man raised an eyebrow, "Family?" he asked, the single word speaking volumes.

"Yeah, InuYasha, his brother Sesshomaru, and Sesshomaru's wife, Kagura. Then they as got that old smith Totosai who I hear can pack a punch despite his age, and some guardian flea as by the name 'o Miyoga-" he paused and pointed a clawed finger at the man, "Look here, are you really a Jap demon? Everyone has heard 'o InuYasha. Have ya been livin' under a rock or something'?"

The man seemed interested by this news, and his eyes sparkled menacingly, "In a way, yes. Although I heard a rumor in the wind that Totosai and Miyoga were taken care of recently."

Bryni's breath caught in his throat, "You sure? No one as that I know of can take out those two geezers and get aways with it-"

"I gave the order for their execution," the man said with a smirk, "Although I was unfortunately not the one to send them to their graves."

"What here is going on?" Bryni demanded, shaking a little, perhaps out of fear, "I've never heard 'o anyone who would dare to cross InuYasha! What idiot did you get to kill 'em?"

He shook his head slightly, as if Bryni was an ignorant schoolboy, "Idiocy is too poor a motivator. A desperate person however, will do far more than an ignorant one," he locked eyes with Bryni, "I used someone with the name of Higure."

Bryni took a step backwards, settling into the stance of a fighter, "Higure's be long dead. I ain't never heard of one left alive," he cast a desperate look around him, as if searching the open expanse for somewhere to run to, "'Side's, I never heard of a Higure doing anyone's bidding. They sing their own crazy tune, dance to it as well. Never work for nobody."

"Perhaps I am simply far stronger than the Higure's- strong enough to control one," the man did not seem to be speaking metaphorically, no – he was speaking from experience.

It seemed as though Bryni was coming to a conclusion of his own. This man was crazy, clearly – perhaps even not right in the head. But a demon that wasn't right in the head, especially one strong enough to control a Higure was five different kinds of danger all wrapped into one package tied with a ribbon of blood.

Bryni lowered his head, his eyes gaining a mad and feral quality to them, "You said you wanted to see the sword in me stomach, eh?" he laughed like a crazed man, "Well I'll show ya!"

Then he leaned his head back so that his throat was in a straight line with the rest of his body, and opened his mouth wide, as if he was screaming silently. His throat contorted, and a handle slowly rose up out of his mouth. Reaching a hand up, Bryni grabbed hold of the handle and pulled a large sword out of his very stomach. The handle was wrapped in bandages and the blade was a diamond. Literally, the blade was made of a translucent white gem stone, stronger than any metal.

In a sudden burst of speed, Bryni had stepped forward, appearing directly in front of the man. He raised his blade and sliced his in half, the man crumpling to the ground as a broken doll.

"Showed you," Bryni scoffed, stepping backwards and grinning relieved.

"That is a very fine blade. Yes I do indeed believe it will do."

"WHA-!" Bryni whirled around only to see the man standing right behind him. As he raised his blade once again, he shivered suddenly.

Large dark tendrils of roots or something of that like were creeping up and around his legs, wrapping onto his like vines. Pulsating vines. And the vines were coming from the hands of the strange man, the man who was smirking as his plan unfolded.

Bryni whipped his head back around to see the false body that he had slashed disintegrate in the wind, leaving behind a broken doll with a single strand of dark hair wrapped around. He tried to raise his blade, but found that his arm was already helplessly entangled in the living vines.

Every struggle he made simply tightened the growing vines grip, sentencing him to his death. "Why-" he gasped, the vines constricting around his chest, "Why kill me?" He tried to move his other arm, held as helpless as a doll.

"Fool," the man said coldly, "I am not going to kill you. That would be an indescribable waste. I simply want your powers. I stated before that hypnosis and a blade to rival InuYasha's would be immensely useful to me, did I not?"

Bryni gasped as the vines began to wind tightly around his neck, signaling his doom, "Wh-" he struggled to breath, to speak, to move, "Who are you?"

And then the man spoke.

Hearing what he said, Bryni's eyes widened to the point of disbelief as the vines consumed everything that he was. As he was devoured, his last thought was one of pointless self pity resigned to depression. For he knew that there was nothing he could have done, and that nothing he could have said would have made any difference. For he had been doomed the moment the man had decided that he would come after him.

The man had simply said, "Have you ever heard of Naraku?"

* * *

S-S: And thus the pieces begin to fall into place. Enjoy the cliffhanger~


	15. 15 So Long As We Win

S-S: Ummm… I would like to apologize in advance. I was watching Ouran High School Host Club while writing, so if Suki seems 'Tamaki-ish' and Kagome 'Haruhi-ish' (I started to picture Ichida as Honi and Tsubaki as Mori), you will all know why and hopefully forgive me.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

"All right team," Suki began, "This is it. The big one. The one that we have all been waiting for. Be prepared for the chance of a lifetime, guys. In a few minutes, we'll-"

"We know already," Ichida sighed, crossing her legs and arms impatiently, "Your motivational talks suck, Suki."

It was true indeed, Kagome had to admit. The four of them were decked out in their archery gear, bows at the ready and all prepared to go. They were waiting in a small room off of the changing rooms that the staff who hosted the tournament called the 'green room'. Kagome thought this was stupid, as the walls were painted white, not green, and there was nothing whatsoever in the room that gave hint as to be called after a color. It was just plain white.

For the past ten minutes, Ichida, Tsubaki, and Kagome had been sitting on a plain wooden bench, pretty much inspecting their nails and worrying while Suki paced in front of them, thinking. It was now clear that their esteemed leader had been trying to come up with a speech before they were called to shoot, but had been drawing some pretty unfortunate blanks. Kagome sighed and ran her hand across the smooth wood of her official, state-provided bow that she was to use for the competition. She rather disliked this factor, as she in general preferred to shoot with a bow that she had had some experience with… but she digressed. That was hardly the point.

Suki waved her hand and impatiently – she was clearly not one for waiting – said, "All right. I get it. No team spirit talks," she once again began to pace, "Let's just go over this," she turned to face them full on, her arms behind her back, "The tournament will proceed in levels. Everyone fires in the first round, and out of the twenty teams, the ten with the best score will move on to the next round. Then five will move on, and then there will be three rounds, of which the team with the overall highest score will be ranked as winner. Got it?"

All three nodded their heads in confirmation. She had gone over this before, so Kagome didn't really know why it was necessary to do so again.

With a cough, Suki continued, "We are going to go out and shoot in a moment, and I want to go over a few last minute instructions first," she pointed a finger at Ichida, "Ichida!" she barked, "I want you to use a lot of strength out there! If you can make the arrow go through the target, do so!"

Ichida nodded with fierce determination, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Suki pointed to Tsubaki, "Tsubaki! Cheat like never before! I know that you say it isn't cheating, but do it anyways! They'll have metal tipped arrows so that should help!"

"Understood, 'fearless leader'," Tsubaki confirmed with a nod.

And then the moving finger moved to point at Kagome. Suki ordered, "Kagome! You are our best member! Shoot like you've never shot before and win damn it! Act like your boyfriend will dump you if you fail!"

Kagome gasped and glared at Tsubaki and Ichida, "You told her about-?!"

"We only said that you had been with a guy and that the same guy was here today watching. I mentioned nothing," Tsubaki calmly replied, with the cool air of someone who had done nothing wrong.

"Shut it!" Suki barked, effectively silencing the two. Their leader it seemed, needed a moment of silence. Suki cleared her throat, "It seems that I have nothing more to say except this; Win damn it!"

Ichida burst into applause, Tsubaki clapping politely along side. Kagome sighed, "Those are not the choicest of words, Suki. But well said," she muttered under her breath. How did the purple haired girl have so much… well… much? There was no other word to describe Suki's charisma. It wasn't normal charisma, more of an intensity that you couldn't ignore even if you tried. She made people shut up and pay attention to her simply by being in the room.

There was a knock on their door, and a calm feminine voice said, "Chuuou High team, your round is on in two minutes."

"All right men, to action!" Suki yelled dramatically, posed for a moment, and then flung open the door with all the air of someone going off to fight a dramatic battle.

Kagome matched her stride to keep up with Suki, hurrying alongside the older girl who seemed to have no problem as they walked quickly through the corridor to the arena, "So are there only twenty high schools with archery clubs in Japan?" she asked incredulously.

Suki chuckled, "Of course not. Don't be stupid Kagome. There are way more than that, but some don't have three members, and some didn't sign up. Also you need consent from all the members who are participating, so maybe some teams couldn't get all their members to play."

Wait. Kagome hadn't signed anything or checked off anything. She had just been told that she was going to play. "I didn't give consent… how-?" she tried to ask.

Swiftly and skillfully cutting her off, Suki shrugged, "No. But you didn't need to."

"Oh," Kagome was still confused. Had she not needed to sign something? Was consent from the leader enough?

All her questions were quickly answered. "I forgot to ask you so I just forged your signature," Suki commented offhandedly.

"You did what?!" Kagome demanded, righteously furious. What the hell had Suki been thinking?! Was this even legal? Of course it wasn't legal! How could Suki have forged her signature when she could have simply taken time out of whatever it was that she had skipped archery club for to ask Kagome to sign a simple sheet of paper?! "What the hell Suki?! Couldn't you've-"

There was a loud buzz that promptly shut Kagome up. Suki rolled her eyes at her and led the team outside. They passed through wide gym doors that lead to an outside stadium. In front of them was wide open Astroturf in all its fake green glory, marked with spray paint in what Kagome assumed to have something to do with football or its American equivalent. There were five archery targets set a far ways away, the classic red and white bullseye targets. In front of the team were five metal quivers pegged into the ground so that they stand up right alone. Twelve arrows lay in each, just waiting to be shot.

Two large rows of bleachers, one on each side, filled with cheering and jeering and generally very loud people. Some wave banners with names of high schools, some dress in school colors, and some simply sit and try to ignore the noise. Many people – adults, not high-schoolers – were dressed in the official uniform and are carrying clipboards and walkie-talkies, trying to keep things under control and on schedule. A woman in a security outfit leaned over and yelled something at Suki over the noise. After a second, Suki nodded and yelled to the others, "Okay listen up! Kagome, there," she pointed to the farthest right target, "Ichida, to the right of Kagome, and Tsubaki to the right again!"

Gulping bravely, Kagome stepped away from the group and walked up to her quiver. Her bow felt reassuring in her hand, a solid reminder to do good.

_*"The Chuuou High Team, round one! Begin!"*_

The crackly loud voice over the loudspeaker must have been the starting mark, because far over from where she was, Kagome saw Suki load her bow and prepare to shoot.

Let the games begin.

Kagome reached down into her quiver and picked up her first arrow. Hmm, Suki had been right. The tips were metal. That was good. Plastic tips were harder to shoot with because they were lighter in weight. She steadied her hands and loaded her bow, keeping her eye on her target as she raised it to shoulder height.

Release the arrow. Again. Shoot. Load. Shoot. Load. Shoot.

Hurriedly depleting her quiver, Kagome allowed her bow to fall to her side, taking a deep breath in and out. Well that was the first round over and done with. She glanced up at her target, and gave a relieved smile when she noticed that all her arrows hit the innermost circle.

Now how did her team do? Ichida had indeed shot every arrow at least three inches deeper into the target than normal, and most of her arrows were in the two innermost circles. There were a few stray shots though. Tsubaki had done fabulously, with every single arrow being either an almost perfect bullseye or damn near close. Suki… had done mediocre. For all her prattle and orders, Kagome realized that this was the first time that she had actually seen the purple haired girl shoot. And from the looks of it, although she wasn't as bad as Ichida, she was nowhere near close to Kagome or Tsubaki. Bark bigger than bit, huh?

Speaking of bark, Kagome scanned the cheering crowd, looking for an outcropping of silver hair or a red hat. Fat man with beard – no. Old woman in a sundress – no. Little girl in shorts sitting on a mother's lap – no. Sexy guy with long messy silver hair, a backwards red baseball cap, and a smug smile – yes! Kagome was tempted to wave, before she realized two things.

One, everyone could see if she did wave. And two. She had just mentally called InuYasha sexy. She hadn't previously thought it was possible to turn three different shades of red at once before, but she knew now.

The referee gave an exaggerated hand gesture to show that they were to return to the green room until the next round or if they were disqualified – to leave.

The four of them hurried out of the arena, the cheers of the crowd dying in their ears as the two doors shut behind them. On their way out, they passed by a team of five, hurrying to take their places outside. Although Kagome was still red, she contented herself with knowing this; that InuYasha was watching her. And that he had been smiling.

When they were finally back inside the green room, Kagome gratefully collapsed onto the bench, sighing and running a hand through her hair. That had been stressful.

Suki frowned and snapped at her, "Don't get all relaxed yet. There are still more rounds to go."

"Oh give us a break!" Ichida whined, "I'm all tired from just the first round! I don't like shooting in front of other people." The red head flopped down on the bench, lying on her stomach. Her hands dangled down and she drew doodles on the smooth tiled floor, "I just want to relax until they call us out again…"

Curious, Kagome asked, "Why are you so sure that we'll be in the next round? We could have failed?"

"Because we're awesome!" Ichida replied, without a single second of hesitation.

Suki tapped Ichida on the head, "We most likely did pass to the next round, but you shouldn't be so sure about it anyways. What's the saying? Don't count your chickens until they're fried?"

Kagome didn't both to point out that the phrase was 'hatched', not 'fried'.

Continuing, Suki spun across the room and threw one arm casually over Tsubaki's shoulders, "Have you noticed why Tsubaki here is not lazing around? Because she understands the importance of hard work-"

"Actually I'm only in this for the prize money," Tsubaki pointed out calmly.

"Who the hell cares?!" Suki yelled, "So long as we win!"

* * *

And win they did.

They won the next round.

And then shot in the next round.

And then the three of them sat down in the green room to wait for the final scores to be announced over the loud speaker.

"Come on come on come on!" Ichida squealed.

"Finger's crossed," Tsubaki muttered.

"Please let us win!" Kagome prayed.

"If you don't pick us I'm gonna head over to the judges both and smack you all so damn hard that your grandkids'll feel it!" Suki threatened.

Then there was a loud buzz from the loudspeaker. The four of them shut up and listened for the words that would ultimately seal their fate.

_*"The final scores are in. In third place: Donka Academy."*_

From somewhere else in the gym there was a loud round of cheers and clapping.

_*"In second place: Oshare Public High."*_

More cheering.

_*"And in first place: Chuuou High!"*_

That was them!

"Fuck yeah!" Suki cheered, pumping her fist into the air like nothing could bring her down.

Ichida and Tsubaki began clapping and hugging each other, Ichida sobbing tears of joy. Then Ichida reached her arms out and grabbed Kagome by the shirt and Suki by the elbow and pulled both of them in. "Team hug!" she cried.

And Suki, whom Kagome had marked as an anti touchy-feely person, smiled and joined in the hugging. There was something about group hugs, Kagome noticed. Right now she had one arm wrapped around Tsubaki's shoulders and her other entangled in Ichida's, and yet she was in no way feeling suffocated. There was just them and their cheering, and although they could hear the loud cheers from outside, they in no way compared to their teams happy shouts.

Then Suki disentangled herself from the group, "Come on," she said with a smile, "Let's go get our trophy!"

The purple haired girl hurried out of the room, returning a while later with a large glittering trophy and a camera-wielding photographer.

The trophy was a clinquant gold beauty, three pillars standing on a marble base, a large and ornate arrow sculpted on top. The base read in flowing letters, 'Japan National Archery Competition, 2000. First place'. A check for some absurd amount of prize money had apparently been slipped into Suki's pocket before she had returned, and the photographer wanted groups shots and individual shots.

There was much passing around of the trophy, and Ichida might have hugged it a few times, before Suki placed it on the bench in the green room while they all went to get their photos taken.

The photographer was a finicky old man, heavy rimmed glasses and a beard contributing to his stern appearance. He wanted team shots first, and adjusted them around on the bench for a while. Dissatisfied with this, he chatted angrily with a security guard for a while, and after determining that the crowds had left, he led them outside for shots.

He spent a long time placing them here and there, making Suki sit in the center, and then stand in the back, saying Ichida's hair was too bright and so moving her to the edge, telling Kagome and Tsubaki that their skin with too tan and too pale, respectively. He took a few shots and then the sun began to light the sky on fire with red, so he dismissed them and quickly took a few individual portrait shots before giving up and leaving the place, muttering about wasting talent. They were unsure if he was talking about them or himself.

Tired, the euphoria of winning long since faded from their systems and replaced with a mild annoyance from the photographer, the team retreated through the now deserted halls to their changing room, all hoping to get some sleep and then figure things out later. There still was the matter of splitting the prize money and who got the trophy, after all. Suki would be keeping both until their next practice session.

Kagome dragged her weary self to her locker and quickly changed. She was busy depositing her archery uniform in her shoulder bag when she felt the pleasant twang of demonic aura that she had come to associate with InuYasha.

"Hey Kagome. Great job out there." InuYasha was standing in the doorway of the locker room, his hands casually shoved in his pockets, his typical grin adorning his features. He picked his red hat off of his head and shoved it playfully on Kagome's.

Kagome smiled happily. InuYasha always made her feel so content, like nothing would go wrong. He made the voices in her head shut up and he made the pain in her heart go away. "Hey. Glad you showed up," she said, "I'm so happy that we won! I can't believe it!" she was going off on a tangent, but she didn't care, "We practiced for so long that I couldn't believe that our efforts finally paid off!"

He shrugged, "You do have skill… a bit. I mean, well…" his face began to turn a slightly pink color – was he sick? Kagome hoped not - as he managed to sputter, "Well… you shot good."

"Thanks," she said, as kindly as she could manage. Was it that hard for him to give her a proper compliment?

There were footsteps from behind the other row of lockers. "Kagome!" Suki's voice called, "Have you got a hair brush that I can-"

Suki stepped out from behind the lockers. She was only in a tank top, a long sleeved red shirt still in her hands, her pony tail messy. Kagome opened her mouth to reply, but then she noticed the look of complete and utter horror on Suki's face.

"_Shit._" She swore, her eyes wide. Suki was staring right at InuYasha.

InuYasha was staring right at the tattoo on Suki's right shoulder. He cracked his knuckles and violently spat out, "_Higure._"

* * *

S-S: Review. Go on. Make a guess and make my day.


	16. 16 To Whom The Name Belongs

S-S: Ugh… I'm sick right now, so that's why this chapter is coming out so soon.

I do not own InuYasha, really.

* * *

Higure.

Kagome knew that name.

It was a name that went with a faceless man, someone evil. Someone who killed Totosai and Miyoga and countless others. Someone who belonged to a family of murderers. That name went with torturous flames and pyres and death and pain and Naraku. The name for someone who laughed coldly and cruelly before mercilessly slicing down a victim. A name that went with evil.

So how could that name now fit with Suki?

Suki was someone who laughed, who teased, who one tournaments with her team. The person who had cheered Kagome up when she had been down and then even invited her to join Kagome's dream, the archery club. Suki was someone who let Ichida give painful hugs. Suki was the one who loved her twin sister.

But Suki was also the one who had not given her surname when introducing herself. Suki was the one who disliked being nice. Suki was the one who was sadistic.

Suki was also the one who had warned Kagome to run.

Perhaps Kagome should have listened.

Suki bit her lip and took an automatic step backwards, her hands floating up in front of her for defense, "Of course," she muttered, "You're the boy that Tsubaki mentioned. She had never seen you before," Suki was talking to herself now, but for some reason InuYasha seemed either willing to listen, or unable to move, "We gave the security camera footage away before the others saw either you or Kagome in that building."

"So that was you, huh?" InuYasha snarled, "The hacker? Let me guess; the figure in the orange hat was really that other teammate of yours?"

"Ichida?" Suki mused, "Oh yes. And I didn't do the hacking, that was all Tsubaki's work. She's a genius," Suki relaxed and took a step forward, confidence beginning to return, "We knew your name, we were told of it earlier. But images of you are well hidden. The others had no way of knowing your face," her eyes narrowed dangerously and Kagome saw her team captain disappear to the demon, "But I saw you before. And I know one thing," her lips split into a feral grin, "You're without your sword. And that makes you weak."

InuYasha scoffed confidently, "I can still rip your bowels from your belly. But answer me this? How did you know me? And how did you survive the war?" he took a step forward, protectively placing Kagome just a little bit behind him, "Higure is a dangerous name. And if I recall correctly, I killed the last to own it."

Suki stared right at him with her burning red eyes that were now no longer a mystery to Kagome, "I know. I saw it happen. The last member of the Higure family. The one who led the wars. The first in a hundred years who was able to utilize lava."

"Higure Fuson, correct?" he mused.

She shrugged, "I called him father."

"InuYasha… killed you father…?" Kagome asked, her voice shaking and trembling.

"I watched you approach our palace. I watched you fight him. And I watched you beat him, the man that I had once thought to be all powerful," Suki stated calmly, like the storm was swirling around her but she was unaffected.

InuYasha frowned, "So I guess we were wrong. It _was_ someone out for vengeance, but it was you all along. Not Naraku, it would seem."

"Ah," Suki looked as though she was in on a joke, "So that was the spider's plan. Make it seem as though I was the mastermind, effectively drawing the attention away from him. That must have been why he did not let the others perform the kills. Wanting to draw the link," she returned her gaze to InuYasha, "You are wrong. Naraku is indeed the one behind this all."

He returned her stare, "And you are following him along for vengeance for your dead father."

_No. That wasn't right,_ Kagome thought. Suki had said that she didn't like her parents. That had been it. So then why was Suki following Naraku?

"Actually I have no personal quarrel with you," Suki replied calmly with a shrug, "If anything, I would have to say thanks for killing the bastard, but I have no problem with you. I remembered you as a marker. You killed my father, the man powerful enough to start a war. I kill you, and then I surpass the bastard. You are a target, if anything, not an object of my hatred."

InuYasha's eyes narrowed in confusion, "So then why play along with Naraku's schemes?"

Now that had been the wrong question to ask. Suki frowned, redirecting the subject, "Does it matter?" she asked darkly, "Aren't you going to kill me? The Higures are evil through and through. Don't you want to get rid of us?"

"You're right," InuYasha scoffed, "Your reasons don't matter. After I kill you then the taint your family left on the world will be gone."

Suki grinned, slightly crazed, "Yes. Kill _me_. The last Higure!"

That wasn't right either. "No," Kagome muttered, unsure as to what she was saying, "That's not right. You're not the last Higure."

Suki froze, her face contorting into one of horror as she realized what Kagome was going to say.

Kagome finished, dragging the memory out of her mind, "You said that you had a twin sister."

There was a pause, like the quiet before the storm.

And then InuYasha broke it with a casual, "Well then. One more on the list."

Suki snarled, looking positively murderous, "You will _never_ touch Chimaki-nee-san! Never not _ever_! DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU WILL NEVER HURT MY SISTER!" Her red eyes burned with internal fire, as she raised her hand like it was the hand of god.

InuYasha gasped and grabbed hold of Kagome, throwing the both of them to the side, "Look out!" he yelled pointlessly to her as they crashed painfully through the next row of lockers.

Just in time too, because Suki swung her hand down in a furious sweep. Flames blossomed at her finger tips and a second later, a roaring fireball streaked past where InuYasha and Kagome had been a second ago. A second fireball soon followed, just as fierce as the first, burning the very air and threatening to incinerate them.

"Grab your bow, damn it!" InuYasha yelled, pulling Kagome to her feet as the two of them broke out into a run.

"It's outside with the arrows!" Kagome yelled back. He nodded and tugged on her hand, almost throwing her out of the large doors. They burst out onto the lawn, thankfully deserted. The sun was still setting and the sky was alight with fire. Fitting, seeing as fire might very well be their imminent demise. She quickly scanned the area, spotting a rack of bows with quivers of arrows not too very far off.

InuYasha behind her, she broke out into a run, determined to reach the weapons in time. She tripped and sprawled into the rack, grabbing onto a bow like her life line. She reached around in the pile, pulling out a quiver with twelve arrows inside.

"Bye bye InuYasha!" Suki burst through the doors, throwing a scorching fireball at InuYasha. He quickly dived to the right, the fire hitting the ground a ways behind him and bursting into sparks on contact with the ground.

InuYasha cracked his knuckles and raised a clawed hand. "Sankon Tessou!" He screamed as he brought down his hand. Large claws of deadly light slashed towards an unprepared Suki.

Then the girl smirked and held up a red hot burning hand. With very little effort, she swatted the attack away. "Is that all the famous InuYasha has to show for himself? I'm disappointed."

He bolted towards her faster than anything Kagome had ever seen, striking a clawed punch towards Suki's head. She tilted her head to the side, bringing her hand up to block. As soon as InuYasha's fist smacked against her own, he pulled his hand back like he had been scorched and swiped wildly at her. Suki dropped to the ground, rolling to the side to avoid InuYasha's strike.

"Burning hot, isn't it?" she muttered, grinning like a crazy person. She cracked her knuckles menacingly, showcasing her white-hot glowing hand.

Then she lunged forwards, aiming her hand palm open to InuYasha's chest. He grabbed her wrist and pinned her arm to her back, pivoting his feet so that he was behind her. "Got you. You're trapped," he said with a smirk.

"What is the difference between me striking you and you striking me?" Suki asked calmly, "When it comes to skin contact, none." Her arms suddenly burst into flame, sending InuYasha jolting backwards, his hands dropping from her skin because her very touch was deadly.

And now the two were a good distance away.

Kagome did not want to hurt her friend. She couldn't. But if InuYasha's life was on the line… She raised her bow, loaded with an arrow poised to strike Suki in the head, "Back away from InuYasha!" she demanded, sounding braver than she really was, "I don't want to shoot you Suki, but I will!"

Suki whirled around to be face to face with Kagome. And Kagome realized that there was still a bit of her friend left in there, a part of Suki that hadn't turned demon. Maybe it was in the defiance to let her sister be hurt. Maybe it was in the surprised look she gave Kagome. And then Suki grinned. Somehow, she had won.

There was a titling from Kagome's arrow, something tugging at it, forcefully pulling at it. The shiny metal tip of the arrow split off from the wood and hurtled to Kagome's right. Two pale and nimble fingers plucked the arrowhead right out of mid air. "Tsk tsk Kagome," Tsubaki said sadly, "Did you forget? Metal tipped arrows." The girl was standing still, her face like that of a statue, simply following orders.

"Tsubaki? You too?" Kagome gaped.

"Actually, all three of us."

She turned her head to see Ichida standing there, bold as brass. The redhead's gloves were off, showcasing hands covered in red and orange fur, long sharp claws. Something that an animal would have. Well now Kagome knew why her frie- Ichida had always worn gloves. Ichida wasn't smiling, neither was Tsubaki, but both of them had on a grim determination that made Kagome know there would be no reasoning with them. Those two would follow Suki anywhere and she couldn't, not for one second, blame them for it.

The metal arrow tip in Tsubaki's hand twisted and warped like a living being, the metal growing and shaping into something completely different. And suddenly Tsubaki was holding a sharp throwing knife. Her wrist flicked, almost unnoticeable, and a second later there was a burst of pain and a long sharp cut on Kagome's cheek.

"Kagome!" InuYasha screamed, running back to her side. The two stood back to back, InuYasha holding up his claws, Kagome her bow. "You all right?" he asked, worried.

She nodded, "I'm fine. It's just a scratch."

Suki walked forward, the three circling InuYasha and Kagome from a good distance away, trapping them more effectively than any prison cell ever could. InuYasha was without his powerful sword, Kagome's arrows would just be used against her, and they were at a numerical disadvantage as well. Suki grinned, "Now how to finish you off?"

InuYasha frowned, reaching one hand back to grasp Kagome's wrist, "Damn it!" he swore quietly, speaking so that only Kagome could hear, "We can't win!"

"So what do we do?" Kagome implored. Her heart was pounding in her ears, the adrenaline triggering her flight or fight responses like mad. There was no way out and no way to win. So what did they do to avoid being killed? Killed… by her friends…

InuYasha reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny grey sphere, like a pellet, "We… run," he said, "On the count of three?" she nodded, and he started, "One… two… _three_!"

He threw the sphere onto the ground with enough force to shatter the earth. Upon hitting the ground, the sphere burst open and a huge cloud of smoke enveloped the whole arena. InuYasha tossed Kagome onto his back like she was a particularly delicate rag doll, and then jumped into the air like he was flying. It _was_ like flying. If they hadn't been running for their lives, Kagome might have paused to marvel.

InuYasha landed briefly on one of the bleachers before he hurdled them over the top of the arena. Looking back for a second, Kagome noticed Suki running out of the arena, Tsubaki and Ichida following right at her heels. But they were running in the opposite direction of InuYasha and Kagome. Maybe it was the smoke so they couldn't see… but Kagome didn't think so. Suki was running with a purpose.

They hit the ground, Kagome stumbling off of InuYasha's back like a drunken man, wobbling for a moment. InuYasha pulled on her hand again and her steered her through the deserted and empty parking lot. Sitting on the sun baked concrete was InuYasha's sleek and dented black motorbike. Kagome had never been happier to see the junkyard piece as InuYasha sat down on the bike and yanked Kagome so that she was sitting behind him.

"Helmets?" Kagome asked desperately as InuYasha started the bike.

He kicked the bike into gear, "No need."

* * *

"Shit!"

"Fucking hell!"

"God damn it!"

Suki kept swearing under her breath as she slammed open the door of her apartment. Ichida and Tsubaki were on their way with the car, she knew that. She didn't care right now. Only one thing mattered.

All her personal possessions were still partly in boxes from their last move. That was easy. Chimaki's IV and medical packs were scattered about though, so that might take a while. They had to get going. There was no telling if that InuYasha might follow them, if they would be found in a minute or a day. Hit the road running and don't look back. Get out of here. They couldn't leave Japan, they still had their job, but they could move around Tokyo, never get found in the city.

An old woman, glasses perched on her nose and he graying hair pulled into a bun stepped out of the bedroom. She smiled when she saw that it was only Suki, "Chimaki-chan slept peacefully," she reported, "She's awake now."

Suki felt herself smiling, "Thank you Doushiko-san." She bowed to the older, – not really older but human years older – woman out of respect before she hurried into the bed room.

Sure enough, Chimaki was sitting up in bed, hunched over a piece of drawing paper. She was concentrating on holding a red crayon in her hand as she drew beautiful red roses all over the paper. Her sister had some color in her unnaturally pale skin, there was a determined smile on her face, and her eyes had regained a bit of clarity. Suki's eyes flickered to the red flame design on Chimaki's right upper arm.

Suki felt like laughing. All those years ago those bastards had said it was impossible. They had said that Chimaki was too damaged, too frail, too useless and that she would never awaken her powers. Well they had been _wrong_. They're all dead and her precious sister still is trying to prove them wrong. Suki would have to get Chimaki a congratulatory present.

"Ring around a… rosie…" Chimaki hummed under her breath, her attention on a crayon petal, "A pocket… full of…"

Suki dropped to Chimaki's side, lightly resting her hands over her sister's paler and more fragile ones, "Chimaki-nee-san!" she said happily.

"Posies…" her sister seemed to snap to attention inside, because she looked up at Suki with a bright smile that melted her heart, "Suki-nee!" she said, like her sister was the greatest thing ever.

Suki tried to keep her voice steady as possible as she explained, "Listen Chimaki-nee-san! We are going to have to move again. There are people after us. I need you to get your things, take only what you need. Okay?"

Chimaki nodded slowly, "I slept funny," she said, the comment random, "There was a bad man with dark hair. He put something in my belly. Is he a bad guy like from the games?"

That bastard. Haunting even her dreams now. "Yes. He is a bad guy," Suki said with a nod, "Now grab your things."

Chimaki grabbed her box of crayons and began to fiddle with the IV that was still in the crook of her elbow. Suki stood up and hurried to the living room where the old woman was. The lady was sitting at the table sipping her tea, "Did I hear you right Suki-chan? Are you two leaving?" she asked.

Suki nodded, "Yes, we have to get going. Thank you very much for everything that you've done for us."

Doushiko-san stood and took a step towards the door, "Well I'll draw up your paperwork, then. I can have it to you by tomorrow."

The old woman. The landlady. She knew who they were and where they had stayed before and so she was too dangerous. "I'm very sorry, Doushiko-san," Suki said calmly.

The old lady turned slightly, as if about to ask what for. The Suki sliced her burning hot hand across her neck and she crumpled to the ground. "I made sure to destroy your spinal cord and nervous system," Suki said quietly, standing over the body, "You felt nothing."

"Suki-nee! I'm ready for the road trip!" Chimaki called from the next room.

Suki smiled again as she rushed to her sister's aid.


	17. 17 A Nasty Piece of Guilt

S-S: I got a lot of great reviews about how I really made people like Suki as a character. That's great! I love making people get emotionally attached to the characters. Also, I really like reviews like that. Please tell me what characters you like or dislike, who are getting too ooc, if there are any obvious plot holes that I've missed (I try to cover all of them but I'm only human), or anything at you feel is working or isn't working. Stuff like that really helps me improve as a writer.

Sorry 'bout the long AN, on with the story! I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

_Nothing._

_There was nothing. _

_This wasn't a white nothing, or a swirling darkness sort of nothing. There was just a large and black and blank expanse of nothing. To the left, more nothing, to the right, even more nothing._

_Kagome saw Kagome. _

_She was staring at herself. _

_Was it a mirror?_

_There was no frame. No rectangle of wood to surround it, no circle of plastic to show that it could be hung onto a wall. There wasn't even that shine of glass._

_There was just Kagome._

_And Kagome. _

_Then she saw herself smile, like something evil, like something twisted. "Hello Kagome," she said in a horrible, evil voice, something the likes of which had never come out of Kagome's throat, "Do you know who you are?" she asked before her face snarled and she answered, "You are a horrible person. You could not see that your friends were your enemies. You could not even fight them! But you Kagome, are more than just despicable. You are a thief. You stole InuYasha, you stole my love, you even stole me from me! I am not the one in the wrong, not the one who is evil, you are! Because you stole my InuYasha!"_

_And then the other Kagome lunged for Kagome, snarling and twisting her hand because clawed and tried to scratch at her. In fear, Kagome closed her eyes, waiting for the pain. _

_There was none. _

_Kagome opened her eyes. _

_The other Kagome was gone. _

"_So yer name's Kagome, huh? Nasty little piece 'o guilt you got there."_

_Kagome whirled around, looking, searching. Who was speaking? Kagome was used to voices, oh yes, but not this one. The voice was male, the accent definitely not Japanese and not anything that she had heard before. "Umm… who are you?" she asked quietly. Her voice was little more than a whisper._

"_Don' rightly know anymore. I was somebody once though. I think I lived somewhere nice. Strange dream o' yours though. Who was the other 'un?" the voice replied. _

"_I don't know. She was me," Kagome hesitated, "How did you know that this was my dream?"_

"_I can't dream no more," was the simple answer, "Don' think I'm properly alive no more either."_

"_Oh," Kagome settled for. Sympathy was her first automatic response, but it was strange. She had no idea of who this person – her first automatic response was 'man' but who knew – was. And she had never been this self aware in a dream before. Normally either she couldn't alter events, or she wasn't aware she was dreaming. "Well," she tried, "Do you feel all right?"_

_The voice paused before answering, "No. I feel… feel… empty- HEY!" the voice yelled, suddenly enraged, "THAT DAMN BASTARD STOLE ME SWORD!"_

"_Who did?" Kagome asked nervously. It was hard not to be nervous when someone was yelling._

"_Some damn Jap!" the voice swore, "I don' remember quite what happened, but I remember some Jap stealing me blade."_

_Kagome waited a while, while the voice continued to swear and curse, calling the 'Jap' – was that a rude name for Japanese? – many a foul name before pausing for breath. Taking advantage of this pause, Kagome asked, "So if you're dead, then why are you in my dream?"_

_The voice paused, as if unsure of how to answer, "I don' think I'm properly dead, neither. When I was fully alive, I could slip inta other's dreams. It's always been a talent 'o mine."_

"_Does that make you a demon?" she asked. Was it a bad thing for demons to be in her dreams._

"_Yeah… HEY! How'd you know 'bout demons!? Human's aint supposed to know!" the voice demanded._

_Kagome shrugged, "I have demon friends. One of them called me…" what had InuYasha said she was? "A Miko. I'm a Miko."_

_The voice sounded like it shuddered, "I dun' like miko's or shamens or whatever 'em called. One 'o 'em tried to seal me up in a jar a couple hundred years ago. 'Specially dun' like Jap ones. I'll be off then." It said hurriedly. _

"_Wait!" Kagome begged. She didn't want to be left alone here! But it seemed that she was too late. The voice was silent. _

And then she woke up.

Kagome found herself staring at small glow-in-the-dark stars, the kind that had a sticky back so that they could be stuck to things. Her ceiling then. Her room. Her house. No evil alternate self. What a strange dream. Never before had she been so conscious, so aware of things in a dream. Not only had she been fully aware that she was dreaming, but she had had full control over her actions. Who was the voice? The strange voice. It had managed to slip into her dreams and seemed like he was only in there for the sake of having a good conversation, like he was just bored. That was rather disturbing. Kagome absolutely did not like the idea of someone being able to slip into her dreams simply because they were bored.

But who had been the other Kagome?

Someone who looked like her. Someone that she had stolen InuYasha from. InuYasha. The other Kagome had called him her love, _her_ InuYasha. Rather possessive. The voice had called it a piece of her guilt. But that person had been very familiar.

Speaking of InuYasha…

"Bad dream?" he asked, concern strong in his voice.

Kagome turned her head away from the stars on her ceiling and looked at InuYasha. He was sitting casually on her windowsill, his back leaning against the side of the window, resting in that nook as if he owned it. He didn't look much different than normal, still wearing that leather jacket that he seemed to be particularly fond of. There was that sword again, dirty and tarnished and banged up, held at his waist. It seemed as though after today's – really it was yesterday by the two in the morning of now – fight he was not going to be caught without it again. He wasn't wearing his red hat though, and his silver hair shone in the moonlight. His eyes didn't glisten or any of that overly romantic crap that she had read in books, but they held a strong gaze that made Kagome feel safe.

And she knew why someone would love him, why they would hate to lose him, and at the same time she knew exactly who the other Kagome had been. "A little," she replied quietly so as to not wake the rest of the house, "I met Kikyo."

"Oh," he said suddenly, looking as though he was about to apologize, "I'm sorry, she can be a bit-"

"I felt sorry for her," Kagome interrupted, "She seemed so sad." The way Kikyo had lashed out, it wasn't in anger but in sorrow and regret, resentment not hatred. It was like how a frightened and sad animal lashed out without knowing why but knowing that something hurt inside and maybe this would fix it.

InuYasha fell silent, unsure of what to say or do. Kagome sat up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders like a cloak, tucking her knees to her chest and leaning against the wall. He laughed dryly and commented, "You know, you're not like Kikyo at all."

She hesitated before asking, "I thought I was her reincarnation."

"Yeah," he shrugged, "But you're still nothing like her." This explanation seemed to make a lot of sense to InuYasha, but it just confused Kagome. Wasn't that the reason why InuYasha had originally befriended her in the feudal era? Because she had been like Kikyo?

For some reason this thought made Kagome feel rather sad, like she was unimportant. "Oh," she settled for.

InuYasha turned his head away and cleared his throat, "Anyways, I was thinking. You should probably stay at my place now. That way I can make sure that you're safe, and your family in case Naraku tries to go after them. It was a rather sneaky move to place operatives as your friends, but it lets us know that he can find ways to get close to you."

Frowning, Kagome threw a pillow at his head, "They _were_ my friends! Not spies or enemies or- whatever!" She would… she would… Well, there had to be a reason they were working for Naraku! She would find it and then she would fix it and then… Kagome hated to be this naive, but she just had to hope that her friends would come back to her. Because she didn't know what would happen if she stopped hoping. Kagome sighed, "… I guess it does make sense for me to move in with you. Even if it is sort of… well…"

He might or might not have known what it was Kagome was about to say, because either way he cleared his throat a bit louder than necessary and said, "Well, all right," he gave her that concerned look again, "Go back to sleep Kagome."

* * *

The nasty colored yellow backpack sat on the floor of Kagome's bedroom as she threw item after item into it. At the bottom of the pack, her old junior-high uniform was neatly folded and placed there for safekeeping – a thing that she inexplicably could not leave behind. Over that were piles of clothing, shirts and pants and that sort of thing. Then there was a bag of make-up that happened to include a rather large bottle of cover-up – damn those dark circles! On the whole, it was rather a lot like packing for a trip. With one exception. This vacation was going to be permanent.

Permanent.

What a final word. Full stop, never more, the end.

Kagome sighed and ran a hand through her hair, her fingers coming to rest on the tiny bump where her pendant lay beneath her turtle-neck shirt. It was unavoidable. She had to leave. She didn't want to, oh no. She had lived here her whole life, grown up here. Her _family _was here. And that was exactly why she had to leave.

She would be safer living with InuYasha. And most importantly, Naraku was out there, and from what she had heard of him – what she _knew_ of him – he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. And right now, if he was in the game of vengeance, Kagome could think of nothing that he would like more than to find who Kagome lived with and use them as hostages.

But if Kagome cut off contact from her family, if they stayed below Naraku's radar, unnoticed, then they would be safe. Kagome didn't like it, not one bit. But if staying meant that one day she woke up to find that her mother and grandfather were dead and Naraku was holding Souta hostage… she would choose leaving any day.

No one liked to run away. But sometimes running was the only thing that one could do.

Kagome sat at her desk, a blank piece of paper in front of her and a pen in hand. How to write this? She had never been particularly skilled at creative writing, or at any form or writing really. She preferred to say things in person. But this sort of thing required a letter.

'_Dear Mom'_, she began, '_or whoever happens to be reading this, I guess. I'm going to live with a friend of mine. I don't know how long I'll be gone, as long as it takes really. Don't worry about my school'_ Kagome wasn't, hadn't even thought about it, '_and I _am_ safe where I am. I want you to know that I'm leaving for your own good, and that if you were safe with me staying, then I would. Remember, I still love you, all of you. See you; Kagome_'

She folded the letter carefully and placed it on her neatly made bed, the plain white letter a bull's-eye on the splotchy purple comforter. Sliding her shoes on, Kagome tugged the heavy backpack over her shoulder, the feeling of the strap on her shoulder comforting and the weight of the pack familiar. Somehow, this was right.

As soundlessly as possible, Kagome made her way downstairs. There was the distant hum of the washing machine from the back room, and Kagome thought that her grandfather would be sorting boxes in one of the shrines. Souta was probably in his room, working on something or another, or maybe playing video games. Her little brother really did like those games. Only he wasn't so little anymore, and the tiny boy that held her hand when they left the shrine was vanishing slowly and painfully. She didn't even remember parts of him growing up. Kagome's memory was fractured, she knew that and had known that for a while, but it hurt a whole different kind of hurt when she couldn't remember her little brother's first day of junior high.

This house was so familiar. She knew exactly which step creaked – third from the bottom – and how to jump over it without making noise. She knew that the painting of Mt Fuji in the living room had been moved to the right after their grandfather had gotten coffee stains on the walls and they couldn't afford to re-paint the whole thing so just settled for covering it up.

Kagome ran her thumb over something smooth, plastic, and cool that she held in the palm of her hand. The tiny lemon-yellow star had been taken off of her ceiling this morning. Kagome needed to keep the stars, needed to keep the nightmares away.

One hand rested on the door, Kagome standing outside, about to shut the door behind her forever.

"K-Kagome?"

The voice wasn't just panicked, the voice was shocked. Kagome looked over her shoulder and saw her mother standing in the hall. Her mom held a basket of laundry at her hip and was wearing her apron over her dress. The sight was so familiar, so comforting, that Kagome was feeling it try and break her. Her mother had a look of complete shock, but not just shock. There was recognition in there as well. Something about this, Kagome, the pack, leaving, her mother had seen it before.

And with the recognition came a very sad look in her mother's eyes, resignation. Her mother had seen this a thousand times before and knew that there was nothing that she could do. The basket of laundry clattered to the floor, clean clothing spilling all over the carpet without anyone picking it up.

"Sorry," Kagome muttered, trying not to cry, "I _have_ to."

Her mother took a hesitant half-step forward, "What- oh Kagome- What are you…?" There were no coherent words, no sense.

"I love you," Kagome whispered, pained, her eyes getting hot and itchy, "but I need to go." She turned, not bearing to look at her mom anymore, unable to watch as she hurt her mother.

"W-why?" her mother begged, her hands clasped tightly at her chest.

"It's…" Kagome bit her lip, the weak sunshine from outside nothing more than a blur to her eyes. She glanced back over her shoulder, "It's InuYasha."

And then she shut the door behind her, her mother's terrified expression the last thing that Kagome saw.


	18. 18 Home is Where the Heart is

S-S: I confess, Bryni(obviously the voice in Kagome's dream) originally was just going to be in this story for that one chapter, but then I was assaulted by plot bunnies so I continued to write him. Besides, I just love his character. He really wrote himself into this story.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

"I felt that it was more important to leave and prevent them from trailing us than it was to try and kill them there and then. Besides, there was still a high chance that other civilians would arrive on the premises, and that would of course interfere with our fight." Suki tapped her fingers against her long since cooled mug of tea. She had been holding the cup for over two hours now, unable to take a sip. Chimaki was sleeping again, tired out from the hurried move. It was good that her twin sister wasn't conscious right now.

Naraku frowned, "InuYasha will be a much more formidable enemy now that he is aware of your presence. He will undoubtedly take up the habit of carrying the Tetsusaiga with him everywhere now," he turned a cold eye to Suki, who felt like shuddering under his glare, "If you fail me again, I will not be so lenient."

"Yes, I understand," Suki hurriedly said, casting a protective gaze upon her sleeping, helpless sister.

"We wouldn't want Chimaki-_chan_ there to pay the price for your mistakes, would we?" Naraku asked with a cold and twisted smirk.

She quickly shook her head, frantic for him to believe her, "No, no of course not. I won't fail you again, I promise. Just don't hurt Chimaki-nee-san."

He nodded slowly, like reassuring a frantic child, "If you do your job, then there won't be a need, will there? I want you and the others to pull out of the school."

She nodded again, "We will. Right away. And that way Kagome will find it harder to find us. And you?"

He shook his head,"It's not yet time for me to make a move," and then with one last warning glare, Naraku vanished into thin air, like he had never been there to begin with.

Suki dropped her mug of tea on the old table and rushed to her sister's side, grabbing the cold hand in her own. They had moved again, a different part of the city, another set of apartments. This new place was run by a blind man, all the better for not being able to identify them if people came looking. Run down and ancient though their new place may be, it was safe for now. But her precious sister… she was never safe, no matter where they were. There was only 'safer' no safe.

Chimaki was the older of the two, not that anyone could ever tell from looking. None of Suki's now dead family had ever said so either, they had all pretended that Suki was the first born, the perfect family heir. Suki had never really known, not for certain that she was born first. The only reason that she guessed so was that her parents had said otherwise – and they _always_ lied. But there was another reason, one that hadn't been spoken of when Suki was younger. Suki had never awakened the power of lava, the power that her father had, and her great-grandfather. Their clan was said to posses he blood secret of lava, a secret that only the heir to the clan could unleash. Her father had told everyone that Suki was learning the skill, she was just young, too young and too inexperienced. But Suki had known the truth. She had never possessed the talent for lava, and she would never be truly her father's daughter so long as she didn't.

And part of her didn't want to be. If she was related to her father, then she would also be related to the bastard who had tried to drown Chimaki once she had long passed the age when she should have learned to speak. Suki had to take her sister, hide her where people wouldn't look, had to run when they came, tell lies to everyone. And her sister stayed safe. Chimaki wasn't stupid or slow like others said. She simply saw the world differently. The babble and senseless prattle that her sister spouted all the time was her own unique way of communicating.

Chimaki smiled in her sleep, warm and comforting and Suki unconsciously mirrored the action. Her sister was safe in her own dreams, at least for now. As long as Suki did absolutely everything that Naraku asked and did not disobey his orders, then the sac of box jelly-fish venom placed in Chimaki's stomach would not burst and kill her.

Her sister flinched in her sleep and Suki's heart skipped a beat.

* * *

Kagome slowly hung her clothes into the closet of her new room. It was by all counts a very nice room, but it was not her old room, and that somehow made all the difference. The walls were a nice shade of cream, and the wood floor was smooth. A fat bed sat under the large window, a desk and chair pushed up against a wall. She even had her own bathroom, no more rushing across the hall – it was only two steps, really – and so that was a nice luxury.

She stepped up on the bed, going up on her tiptoes and stretching her arm high to place the star on her ceiling. The crayon drawings done by Shippo were thumb tacked to the wall above her desk and the pictures from the camera were in the desk drawer and the place almost looked like home.

Shaking it out one last time to make sure it was empty, Kagome tossed the yellow backpack into her closet. To her surprise, a tiny cloud of dust kicks up when the pack thudded against the floor. She leaned down and touched her finger to the wooden floor. When she inspected the pad of her finger, she found the tell-tale grimy film or dust. Well this was the guest room after all. Perhaps it simply wasn't used often. In fact, the entire house looked like it wasn't used often. She knew that Kagura had flown over from New York, and InuYasha had said that it had been a very long time since he had been back in Japan. Was the whole family always like that? In some other country, sometimes together, sometimes not. Having homes everywhere but rarely using them because they were just somewhere else at the time.

That was kinda lonely. Kagome stood up and walked out of her door, thinking about going and giving InuYasha a hug.

* * *

She had been sitting there for two hours now. Just sitting, not moving, not talking, not saying anything. Sitting on a bed that belonged to her only daughter, in a room that wasn't her own. Her hands were clasped around a plain sheet of paper, her eyes having long since giving up on re-re-re-reading it.

Souta was sitting on the floor in the hallway, his back pressed against the wall, right next to the door to Kagome's room. He had never seen his mom like this before, only once had it even been close. It had been when Kagome first was pulled down the well. Souta had ran to the house, terrified, yelling to his mother and grandfather about the monster with many arms who had pulled his sister down the bone-eaters well. His grandfather had gone out to the well right away, grabbing a flashlight, even some rope in case they had to climb down. It was funny, looking back. His grandfather had been the only one who had rightly guessed where Kagome was and they had just completely ignored him in preference of theories like kidnapping and stalkers.

But his mother had frozen, like from shock, like from terror, and hadn't been able to go out to the well house right away. His mother was doing it again. She was frozen, like she was hoping that if she froze, time would freeze with her. Maybe that was what she had done when her husband – his father – had died.

His knees were tucked to his chest, feeling like he was a little kid again, waiting for his big sister to come back from her travels to a magical land. And from the looks of it, from the fact that it was Sunday and Kagome had no school and by all rights she should have been here, studying? His big sister had left again. And this time she hadn't vanished down the well, this time she had vanished far more permanently.

He knew Kagome wasn't dead. No, if she was dead, then their mother would be doing something completely different. He had only seen it once, when he was tiny. It was after his mother got back from the hospital. Her steps had been slow, methodical, memorized and unsure, like his mother was only there in body, not in mind. But she had walked right into the kitchen, ignoring Souta and Kagome who were hiding in the living room and waiting for the news. She had gotten out a bottle of sake – the stuff that their grandfather used for medicinal purposes – and had drank the entire bottle. That was how he knew Kagome wasn't dead, because his mother wasn't drinking. Maybe Souta would go downstairs right now and steal the sake bottle, just to make sure Kagome stayed alive.

* * *

Tsubaki sat down at the small table, placing the scroll in front of her as carefully as she could, like it was explosive. The scroll was faded and yellow, the paper aged and crinkly, full of wrinkles made from time. A thick black cord tied around the scroll, keeping it shut. She didn't dare to touch it, not just yet, she had held it physically for far too long. Glancing across the table, she saw a similar scroll at Ichida's place, that one painted elaborately with green bamboo and a tiger.

The redhead was fretting around in the tiny kitchen cupboards, pulling out cracked tea mugs and heating a kettle. The two had been gone for a while, Tsubaki to the northern mountains in Hokkaido, Ichida down to a mansion by the sea in the south. In the mountains, there had been a deserted old compound, just a tiny cluster of houses really. Her clan had held strongholds all over Japan, for they had moved about often as they completed missions that took them farther and farther from their northern home. For Tsubaki, it had been a simple matter of canceling the spells that kept the compound hidden, walking in and taking the scroll from the vaults.

She supposed that it must have been harder for Ichida. Unlike Tsubaki, her family was still alive, still out there. The Kyoushin clan fled before they were whipped out, so some still lived, and Tsubaki found it hard to think that they had simply abandoned the sea-side mansion. She wondered if Ichida would have been welcomed after her years of absence, or attacked by the people that she had long since stopped calling family.

There was the sound of running water from the sink. Glancing over her shoulder, Tsubaki saw Ichida gingerly remove her black gloves. The red and orange fur was spotted with maroon, her claws painted in the same hue. So they attacked her then. Ichida placed her hands under the faucet, scrubbing heavily with soap to get the blood out of her fur. Tsubaki turned her head around, reminding herself that it was impolite to look. What must it be like, she wondered, to have to fight and kill members of your own family? She had been lucky enough to have her clan killed by another, the same man who had finished off Suki's clan as well. Tsubaki sought no vengeance. There was little cause for her to be sad at the murder of her family of ninjas. Ninjas did not mourn the death of their kind.

The water stopped, and there was the sound of a towel being rubbed against something. A minute later, Ichida kindly pressed a mug of warm tea into Tsubaki's hand and sat down at the table as well, sipping her own tea.

"Fuck no," Suki swore, standing shocked in the kitchen door.

Tsubaki and Ichida turned to face the third member of their group, feeling guilty and righteous at the same time. "It had to be done," Tsubaki said with as much kindness as possible.

Suki kept her gaze firmly planted on the two scrolls. Of course she knew what they meant. The three clans had been allies for thousands of years, the secrets of each well known to all. "Don't you dare," Suki whispered furiously, scared and warning, "Don't you ever dare," she bit her lip, "Neither of you are to ever use those techniques, or- or-" her voice panicked and faded.

"Or what?" Tsubaki asked, "You'll kill us?" it was a tasteless joke, and she regretted the words the second they left her mouth.

"Give them here," Suki demanded, holding out her hand, "Give them here so that I can burn them."

Ichida shook her head and pocketed her scroll and Tsubaki mirrored the movement, "We can't let that happen," the redhead said softly, "We're sorry, but you need to understand this Suki. Bad- really bad things are gonna happen. We gotta be prepared."

Suki just looked like she was about to cry, "Not you too. I can't- I can barely hold on with Chimaki-nee-san the way she is, don't you dare give me reason to worry for you as well," she clasped her hands over her ears, "I can't take this. I'm shattering. I keep having nightmares, terrible nightmares and I keep thinking that one day I'll open my eyes and the nightmare will be me! I can't keep on like this!"

The two cups on the table were overturned as Tsubaki and Ichida rushed to comfort their friend. "It's okay," Ichida muttered, hugging Suki soothingly, "We're not going anywhere. Don't you worry about us, we can handle ourselves."

Tsubaki held one arm around her two friends, her other hand coaxing Suki's hands to relax from the death grip her had on her hair, "We're going to make sure that you and Chimaki-chan stay alive and fine. We'll get through this. We always do."


	19. 19 Do Bad Guys Always Win?

S-S: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get out! I was originally going to put in this scene with Kagome and Kagura 'bonding' and then Kagome finding out Kagura's new plot secret but I'm going to have to put that in for the next chapter. And then I had to re-write it all because my stupid computer didn't save.

I don't own InuYasha, but I do own this yummy chocolate chip cookie.

* * *

Tap-tap-tap.

Kagome paced down the hall.

Tap-tap-tap.

She paced down the other way.

She had been at this for about eleven minutes and thirty-seven seconds, not that InuYasha was counting. Kagome was indeed wearing her school uniform, and her book bag was tossed near the front door. Her arms were crossed, and she was leaning forward slightly, staring at an ever-changing spot on the rug. It was Monday morning. Kagome always went to school on Monday mornings.

"Kagome-" InuYasha tried, gingerly reaching out a hand.

"Shush!" Kagome snapped upon his words like a mousetrap. Her pacing doubled in speed, "I can't go to school! But I need to learn! But I can't go! But if I don't go to class then I can't pass my tests and finals! Then I won't be able to get a degree! And then I can't go to college! But if I go, then Suki and the others and Naraku will be able to find me! And that would be _bad_! But I _need_ to go to school! But I _can't_-"

He slammed his head onto the table, feeling a headache coming on from just listening to the whirlwind of her thoughts, "Just pick an option already!" he groaned, rubbing his temples.

Kagome sighed and practically flung herself down on a chair, "I don't know what to do anymore!" she felt like sobbing, "Why is life so confusing!?"

InuYasha flinched, "Please don't cry," he pleaded. Oh god, he couldn't stand the crying! He felt like when Kagome cried he was guilt-bound to do whatever would make her stop. Why did the crying get to him so much? He awkwardly patted her on the shoulder, "Look, if you have trouble getting into college, then I can always help you out and pay for entrance if you want-"

"It's not the same!" Kagome cried desperately, throwing herself once again into a fit of sobbing.

Kagura stepped out of the kitchen with another cup of tea for Kagome, "You know Kagome," she said, placing the cup on the table, "If you want, I can help you study for your tests so that you can pass."

Kagome stopped crying and looked up at Kagura with streaming eyes, "That would be wonderful!" she cried, "Thank you so much!"

Kagura smiled as he walked up the stairs, "No problem. Keeping up in school can be hard."

InuYasha just blinked, "Women…" he muttered. Nothing they did made any sense.

Kagome tilted her head up, looking him in the eye, "InuYasha," she asked hesitantly, "Why did Suki do it? Side with Naraku, I mean?" she bit her lip, and he suddenly felt nothing but pity towards her, "You know more about Naraku than I do… but it doesn't make any sense. Why would Suki help him?" She looked at him with those large beautiful questioning eyes that simply couldn't understand it and damn it, it hurt InuYasha.

He shrugged, "He might have made her a deal. You know, offer her power or money or something in exchange for help. The Higure probably wasn't alive 500 years ago, when Naraku's name was legend. She might've just not known that he couldn't have been trusted," it was a curious matter, though, "Her and those two lackeys of hers had no demonic aura, no scent, no nothing. Maybe that was what Naraku offered her. A way to vanish."

"A way out, you mean?" Kagome asked curiously, clearly trying to wrap her head around it, "So maybe he offered her the chance to keep whatever spell or such that kept her undetectable?"

InuYasha really had just about as much of a clue as her, "Your guess is as good as mine," he mumbled, "It don't make all that much sense to me."

Her eyes narrowed just a fraction of a centimeter. It wasn't in that violent way like in battle, it was in a uniquely Kagome way, one that conveyed, 'hush, I'm thinking'. "So if we knew what he was offering her, then we could potentially give her a better offer, gaining three allies and keeping her out of Naraku's grasp."

"I guess," InuYasha said calmly, "But you're forgetting a few things. One, there was another Higure that she talked about, her sister. That one's still a wild card. Just because we'd have Suki on our side, doesn't mean that the sister wouldn't remain loyal to Naraku. And also, how the hell are we going to ask her this? Naraku's probably going to show up next time that we try and get close to them. There's no way we could pass a message of negotiation to them," he gave her a stern look, "There's simply no line of communication, Kagome."

Kagome sighed, in that defeated way that InuYasha so hated to hear her sound like. It was a completely 'given-up' sort of sigh. "You're right," she said tiredly, "I guess I was just grasping at straws… I just keep thinking 'If only I could talk to Suki.'"

He felt a strange desire to give her a hug, or anything to cheer her up really, "It's… fine," he settled for, "There's nothing wrong with missing friends. But you do have to accept it when those friends are now enemies. I don't want to lose you because you're being stupid. I won't lose you. Not again."

She bit her lip, looking far more guilty than his statement had intended, "I know. I _am_ sorry InuYasha. If I had known that I had forgotten…" she huffed – something similar to a laugh – "I guess that's just silly thinking," she looked down at her nervously fidgeting hands, "I just want answers, why they became my friends if they knew all along we were enemies. Was it all a trap or a plan? Could I have done something?"

InuYasha shrugged, "You're probably just feeling guilty about it because you couldn't do anything. But hey, that's life sometimes, and-"

"_That's it_!" Kagome burst out confidently, like she had been struck with lightning, "_That's_ how I can talk to her!" she rested her chin on her hands and returned to her thinking state, "I don't know if it'll work… or even if it's possible… and it will be a risk because who knows what can happen… but if it does work…"

InuYasha was wary, "Kagome…" he said cautiously, "What are you talking about?"

She shook her head as if to clear it, "I have an idea about how I can talk to Suki without Naraku detecting me. I'm going to have to wait till tonight though, and it might not work."

* * *

The burning red of the sunset streamed in through the window, casting red light onto a light wood floor. A cool evening breeze drifted lazily in through the propped open window, making any loose fabric billow in the almost luxurious breeze. Chimaki was sitting in bed again, the thin IV needle still nestled in the crook of her arm. Her knees were tucked close to her chest, a sketchbook resting on her lap, propped up like an easel. Open boxes of crayons and colored pencils were spread out on the bed sheets, lines of color on the white. She was drawing what looked like very accurate representation of a red-rose tree, her eyes lined with concentration.

Sitting stiffly at the table, Tsubaki's fingers ghosted over the keyboard of a laptop, the click-clack of the keys almost silent. The machine was sleek, state-of-the-art, a masterpiece of engineering. She had also made it herself, but that was the reason she loved it so much. Suki was gone, as was Ichida. It seemed as though there was a demon in Australia that had mysteriously vanished – ten guesses who – and Suki was supposed to kill his old father, who had been asking questions. Orders from Naraku, apparently. Tsubaki rolled her eyes at that.

Naraku, the demon that she and Ichida had never even _seen_, was ordering their best friend around like she was just a mindless puppet. The dark haired girl cast another glance over to the happy and content Chimaki. Well, in a way, she supposed that Suki was just about as good as a puppet now, the way Naraku had forced this deal onto them. To be fair to Suki, she had never asked for Tsubaki and Ichida to get into this as well. In fact, when the other two had first found out about it, Tsubaki remembered her being very adamant about this being her problem and hers alone, and that they should leave her alone and move on with their lives without her and Chimaki. Of course, it hadn't been like Tsubaki and Ichida were actually going to _follow_ that order, but it had been rather frightening all the same. That look, the demanded to leave, all spoke the same words. This was going to be _serious_.

Tsubaki frowned at her computer again, typing ever faster. Really, there was no actual _need_ for Tsubaki to type. She was a demon with power over metal, all she needed to do was make the metallic parts of the computer do exactly what she wanted, and that would only take perhaps a wave of the wrist and a thought. But there was something so methodical about typing, so comforting. It was like busy work.

Like what she was doing now for instance. Since Suki's order yesterday – that was really _Naraku's_ order – they had been told to leave the school and their surveillance job there behind. But either way, they were still supposed to keep track of Kagome, and this menial task fell right into that category. Tsubaki was in her element here, brushing past firewalls and passwords and sliding through all the online defenses like hot oil through gears. And then she pulled up the school security camera footage from today and placed it on fast-forward, activating a face recognition software simultaneously. It ran for about a minute, before the results popped up on screen.

"Well that's interesting," she said out loud, not even aware she was doing so, "Seems as though Kagome did not attend school today either."

There was a second of silence, in which Tsubaki realized that her words had probably been pointless. Chimaki paused in her coloring and looked up at her, "Kagome-san is the mission objective. Why would she persist to attend a school that her now-known-enemies used to frequent as well?"

Tsubaki shrugged, "There isn't a reason really. It only finalizes the fact that we are at war with them." That was the interesting thing about Chimaki. One could never be sure that she would understand. But sometimes, when her mind was switched the right way, she was brilliant.

Chimaki blinked, "War?" she asked, "Suki-nee would have told me if we were going to war. Are we going to fight… fight…" she struggled to name him as her mind slipped.

"Naraku?" Tsubaki supplied easily, "No. We are working for Naraku."

There was a stubborn frown working its way onto Chimaki's face, "I dislike him," she stated, "He… he…" she faded out of the state of awareness, "He's hurting Suki-nee. He's a bad guy. Bad guys need to lose."

There was something so definite about Chimaki saying it. There was no way around it, not really. Naraku was a 'bad guy' no matter how much one pinched it, twisted it, distorted it, or blurred it. "Yes they do," Tsubaki said sadly, "But they have a horrible habit of winning."

* * *

It was night.

Kagome closed her eyes.

And then-

_There was nothing. _

_Again. _

_Kagome had been in this sort of nothing before, and she was so very glad that she was here once again. This meant that her idea was working, at least so far. She knew that she was dreaming, and that was strange enough of a sensation in and of itself. Hesitantly, she called out, "Umm… Voice-san?" she asked, "Is this you again?"_

_There was a pause, and Kagome briefly considered that the voice might not be here after all and that this was some other sort of dream. Then the voice replied, "Don' go thinkin' yer all clever an' such juz cause you found me out."_

_She couldn't hold back her grin. Kagome sat down on the nothing, and upon doing so discovered that there was something on which to sit. "So why are you back in my dream?" she asked pleasantly, as if discussing the weather. _

"_No real reason. Just figured that haunting ordinary humans was getting damn boring so I might as well have a talk with a person who had some sense, shaman or no," the voice replied, sounding rather like it was shrugging. _

_Well alright. Time to figure this out, "Tell me, Voice-san," Kagome asked, "Is it possible for you to merge the dreams of two separate people?"_

"_Yes…" the voice replied cautiously, "But don' go thinkin' that it's easy!"_

"_I need you to merge this dream with another's," Kagome requested politely. If this worked, then she could solve so many problems at once. If it didn't… well at least she would know that she had tried. _

_The voice laughed, short and sharp and mocking, "I don' do deals with Japs," it said firmly. _

_Damn. Part of her knew that this would stay true, but she couldn't give up like this. "How about favors?' she asked, almost begging, "Listen, I'm not being selfish, or asking for a personal favor. I'm trying to destroy a powerful demon, but I need your help for this," he did not reply, so Kagome took a deep breath and said, "Have you ever heard of Naraku?"_

_Her voice echoed around the nothingness, strange, since there was nothing to echo off of. When the voice replied, it sounded strangely hollow. Not all there. Like- like- like Kagome when she was trying to remember. "That's what he said."_

"_Who said?" Kagome prompted. _

_The voice struggled to reply, "The Jap who stole me sword. He asked… he asked if I had heard of Naraku. Course I had, everyone had. Then he shut me up in 'ere," the voice paused, "Yer trying to do in Naraku?"_

"_I am!" Kagome declared, nodding furiously._

_There was silence. Then the voice hesitantly asked, "Who do you want to talk with?"_

"_Higure Suki-san, if you please," she said without a second of pause._

_The voice sounded like it shuddered, "Higure? You sure? I've said it before and I'll say it again, but Higures sing their own crazy tune and dance to it as well. Yer crazy if you want to talk to one. Most are tied up and forced to."_

_Kagome held firm, "Higure Suki-san please."_

"_Well if yer sure," the voice replied._

_There was a pause, and then the nothingness moved. It wavered, like water forming ripples after a stone had invaded its depths. Something was trying to breach the surface of the dream. Then the nothingness pulled towards a single spot in front of Kagome, the black pulling away to reveal white. The black swirled and was pinched and pulled by an invisible hand until there was a tiny oval of black, twirling in on itself. _

_Ah._

_A doorway._

_Leaving the white nothingness behind her, Kagome stepped forward to the black doorway of nothingness. She gingerly held out a hand and touched the black. Then she sunk her whole hand in. it felt cool, wet, like water or some other liquid. _

_The voice returned, "Be careful. Once yer in, you'll be inside her mindscape, or subconscious. I have to put people into that state to enter their dreams."_

_Kagome put a foot in, "Is the black my… mindscape?' she asked, trying out the unfamiliar word. _

_The voice hesitated, "Sorta. You've actually got two. That piece o' guilt slipped in from the other bit," it seemed to ponder, "Maybe I'll show ya the other one some time."_

_Nodding, Kagome replied, "Thank you."_

_And then she stepped into the darkness._


	20. 20 A Maze of Dreams

S-S: You guys must have loved last chapter's cliffie, huh? *dodges rotten tomatoes*

I clearly don't own InuYasha.

* * *

_And then Kagome stepped into the darkness._

_And she stepped out into silence. _

_She was standing in a hall, tatami mats beneath her feet and paper screen walls. It was like a feudal palace of sorts, simple and ancient. There was a murky yellow light coming from somewhere and seeping into the room with a haze, dim and smoky, like an opium den. The silence here was deafening, nothing to make noise, not even a tiny mouse to stir the air. Kagome's ears begged for noise to disturb the heavy blanket of quiet hush. The hall continued on into the distance until it turned and vanished out of sight. _

_This was Suki's subconscious? From the way the voice had spoken, she had assumed that it would be a very unpleasant place indeed. The silence was oppressive, yes, but not openly hostile – at least, not yet. _

_She took a step, her footsteps muffled by the silence and the dusty air and perhaps just the emptiness that filled this place. Kagome needed to talk to Suki, had to speak with her about the whys, but how was she ever to find her friend in this maze? Screen doors everywhere and not a clue where to start. Was Suki even behind a door? Was she at the end of the hall?_

_Gulping, and steeling whatever mental-dreamstate nerves that she happened to be in possession of, Kagome stepped up to the nearest door and opened it. _

_And she was suddenly outside. _

_She was standing in front of a wide stone pavilion, stretching out further and farther that what should have been possible, considering the number of doors that had been in the hallway. Far behind the pavilion, low trees cast pools of shade over a rock garden. The day was cloudy, and thin rays of sunshine reached through the clouds, dotting the pale stone with lighter grey._

_But no matter how pretty, the space seemed slightly twisted, slightly distorted. The stone only looked like stone when you were looking at it, turning into some blank grey when it retreated to Kagome's peripheral vision. It wasn't real. It was clearly a dream, but it looked real when Kagome looked._

_So then what was it?_

_A memory?_

"_Get up!" somebody barked. It wasn't the voice, and it wasn't familiar. It was loud and booming and commanded attention. _

_Kagome turned her head to face the noise._

_There were two people, and the voice seemed to be coming from the taller of the two. He was tall, muscular, all dark hair and tan skin. To Kagome's curiosity, his sleeveless shirt revealed a red tattoo that was exactly like…_

"_Yes, Chichiue!" the second figure gasped, struggling to her feet. _

_This person Kagome knew. She was ten years old – or looked it at least – yes, but the dark purple hair that fell about her sweat-shone face and the heavy red eyes gave everything away. This was Suki. Suki's past. _

_Kagome took a deep breath and closed the door, finding herself back in the musty hallways. These were Suki's memories. _

_She had no right to go looking through them like a peeping tom. _

_Just a quick look behind each door then to check for Suki. _

_Kagome took a few steps down the hall and opened the next door. It opened into what looked like an old storage room, boxes pilled on boxes pilled on racks. Herbs in yellowed paper wrappers hung from the wooden ceiling, swaying slightly in the nonexistent breeze. Silk kimonos in all the colors of the nobility peered out from the depths of tight lidded boxes, shoved in corners and forgotten. _

_And there was ten-year old Suki again, dressed the same as the previous scene and looking not a second older. This time, she was tucked in a corner with someone who looked like a replica. This must be Chimaki, her twin sister. Only the twin was different. Paler skin and hair, wider eyes, a more carefree smile. No tattoo. Suki was holding a bowl of rice, her hands ghosting over Chimaki's, teaching her fingers how to hold the chopsticks. _

_Kagome shut the door silently. _

_It seemed that the memories went chronologically. So therefore, she would fins Suki herself at the end of the hall. With this in mind, Kagome set off at a run down the hall._

_End of the hall. _

_Upon turning, another row of doors awaited her. It seemed as though it would not be so easy. _

_The end of the hall always seemed to be father ahead of where Kagome was. The hall was teasing her, turning around a corner and suddenly appearing father away. _

_There were a lot of memories, Kagome supposed. Especially seeing as how Suki had been living for over one hundred years. _

_But that damn end was just so far away._

_Where was the voice when she needed it, huh? _

_There was a funny thing about this place though. Kagome had no idea how long she had been running for or indeed how far she had come. But she knew that she had been running. By all rights, she should have been tired by now, or at least breathing heavily. But she wasn't._

_So?_

_This place wasn't real._

_So logically, or at least using whatever logic there could be in a dream world, Kagome just had to want to be at the end of the hall. _

_And then she should end up there, at the end of the hall. _

'_Okay,' Kagome thought, 'In that case, I want to be at the end of the hall.'_

_She blinked._

_And then she was at the end of the hall. _

_The wooden walls stopped right in front of her, a dead end. So where was Suki? Kagome looked down and saw a set of wooden stairs going down into some dark, black place. Well look at that. A basement. Kagome didn't like basements. Basements were where you stored all the bits and pieces that didn't fit anywhere else in the house. Just a place full of spare parts. And this was where Suki's conscious was?_

_Kagome wondered how she had managed to stay as sane as she had._

_But then, how had Kagome managed to hold on? With her subconscious full of black nothing? Black nothing and guilt? Maybe her other subconscious was better._

_Here goes nothing. _

_Kagome shuddered and walked down the stairs. _

_These steps creaked and moaned as Kagome descended into the darkness. Barely used steps, groaning beneath the weight of a single person. _

_As soon as her head was clear of the top of the steps, a door slammed shut, sealing Kagome off from the hall. There was no going back now. She hesitated on the bottom step, peering out into the darkness. There was no visible floor where the steps ended, but she had a feeling that if she stepped on it there would be something to stand on. _

_Seeing nothing, Kagome stepped onto the black. And then the steps behind her vanished, as insubstantial as dust. _

_And then she found herself staring into the burning red eyes of Suki._

"_What are you doing here?" Suki demanded, glaring at Kagome, "You've never been here before. Why are you in my mind?"_

_Kagome stepped back, away from Suki, "You're dreaming. I'm dreaming. But I found a way to connect the dreams!" she was imploring Suki to listen, her voice begging, "I needed to talk to you so I found a way! This is the only place that you can speak freely! Otherwise Naraku will hear!"_

_Suki did not stop glaring. She observed Kagome as if she was not quite sure that she was there. Without blinking or taking her eyes off Kagome, she sat down onto a plush armchair that had not been there a second ago, had only just formed out of the darkness. "That's a very interesting dream," she commented offhandedly, "But if you _are_ Kagome, and if you _have_ entered my subconscious, then you should know one thing."_

_And then suddenly, chains sprang out of the black, wrapping painfully around Kagome's arms and legs. With a tug on the metal, Kagome was forced to the ground. She winced, pulling at her arms and her limbs groaned with protest. The chains did not budge. _

_Closing her eyes, Kagome thought, 'I want the chains to break.'_

_And then she opened her eyes. _

_The chains had not broken. _

_They remained heavy and metallic and straining her joints. _

_Suki burst out laughing. This wasn't a humorous laughter, no this was simply a sound of victory, and it was slightly deranged. And it was terrifying. _

_Kagome strained her neck to look up at Suki, still pointlessly tugging on the chains. Her blood ran cold. Her friend's eyes held madness. _

_Suki stopped laughing and crossed her legs, looking positively regal, "I see you've figured out how the subconscious works. One can make anything happen in a dream. However… this is _my_ dream, _my _mind, and it will _always_ answer to me. You have no power here unless I say so," she grinned, "And I most certainly don't," she rested the tips of her fingers together and leaned in to look at Kagome, "Now. You are going to tell me exactly what possessed you to dare to enter my mind. And if you don't… know that there is no limit to how much pain I can imagine for you."_

"_I can here to help you!" Kagome begged. There was no doubt in her mind that Suki meant every word, and it was even more horrifying than her laugh. What had happened to her friend to make her like this?_

_A strange look passed over Suki's face, "Help? Me?" Suki leaned back in her chair, "Interesting try, but I'm afraid that there simply isn't any way you can help."_

_Kagome bit her lip in frustration and fear. Why wouldn't Suki trust her? Well… besides the obvious reason. "How do you know that I can't help unless you try?" she begged, "Just tell me why you're working for Naraku! Then we can find a way out for you!"_

_When Suki spoke, her voice was oddly detached, like she had forgotten how to put emotion into her words, "Oh, there's a way out all right. That's one of the reasons why Naraku chose me to work for him. If I wanted to run, I could keep running from him forever. I have the speed and knowledge of this world to keep me hidden for as long as I need. There has been a way out for me all this time."_

_Puzzled, Kagome asked, "Then why don't you take that way out? Why don't you run?" What was keeping her here? Here, where she was bound to die either at InuYasha's hands or Naraku's. What bound her to her deal with the devil? Honor, reward, what?_

"_I would never run. The moment I run is the moment I lose everything. Naraku had that ensured from the moment he learned of me and desired my help," Suki explained quietly, "He placed a sac of box-jellyfish venom in Chimaki's stomach. If I make one move against Naraku, one move out of line, that sac of poison will burst. My sister will be dead in minutes."_

_So that was why._

_All her anger, all her sarcasm. Because every single prideful hate-filled insult just put another brick into Suki's wall._

_And Suki needed a wall, needed it desperately, because if people found out what that wall was hiding then they would take advantage of it. Suki needed a wall to keep her precious sister safe. The whispers from Ichida in the hall made sense now. The way the twin behind the door in the memory had struggled with something as simple as chopsticks. Chimaki was weak, a child born sick. And in a family taught solely in the art of war and bloodshed, sickness was unforgivable, the greatest crime to commit. A child like Chimaki would have been cast out instantaneously. But Suki had never brought herself to hate her twin. _

_For someone like Suki, once Naraku had had hold of Chimaki, control over her life, Suki would obey every word that he ordered. Even if he ordered her own death, she would follow through with it because the alternative was unbearable, unthinkable._

_He had hold of her heart. _

_Just like what he had done with Kagura. _

_And that was who Naraku was. He had clever. He knew exactly what a heart did. And he knew exactly what it did to a person to have their heart so vulnerable. _

"_That… that's horrible," Kagome choked out, little more than a whisper, "That's the most despicable thing…"_

_Suki raised an eyebrow over her glistening red eye, "You think I don't know that?" she asked sadly, "Now what do you propose I do?" she sounded a little desperate, like a child needing instruction. _

_In an instant, the chains binding Kagome vanished and she was allowed to move freely again. Apparently joints could still ache in a dream – or at least they did when Suki wanted them to – and Kagome stretched briefly before she seated herself comfortably in another chair that she wished up. "I- I'm not sure," Kagome admitted. It had been much easier in retrospect._

_Huffing angrily, Suki crossed her arms and demanded, "Are you really here to help?"_

_Nodding, Kagome replied, 'Yes! I am!" she frowned, "I'm just unsure as to how to help," she thought for a moment before asking, "Does your… deal… with Naraku apply to Tsubaki and Ichida as well?"_

_There was a pause before Suki replied with, "No. they are under no contract with him, simply following me. We are friends," she said to Kagome firmly, "That is what we do."_

_That must be reassuring in a world where Suki seemed to be constantly hiding. Kagome bit her lip and set the gears in her brain turning. "I think I might have an idea," she said hesitantly, "If Ichida claims that she's tired of following you around, and leaves, then me and InuYasha would have an ally as well as information on Naraku. At the same time, what if Tsubaki made a deal with Naraku? A man on the inside if you will, asking for power. Naraku may be clever, but I don't think that he really understands people as well as he would like to think. I don't think that he would fully understand how the two will always stay with you. It would fool him. And besides," she said, "As far as he is concerned, there was no way for us to plan this out."_

_Suki processed this, "Alright…" she said slowly, "So you're saying that if Tsubaki actually seemed like she would be of better use to Naraku than me, then she would have more information on him than I do."_

_Kagome nodded, "Right. And their movements wouldn't seem to be connected to yours, so if Naraku thinks that they are suspicious, he wouldn't punish Chimaki because it wouldn't be your fault."_

_Still looking skeptical, Suki said, "He is not honorable. If he thinks that they're still loyal to me, then he _will_ hurt Chimaki. We'll have to be careful. Do you know how I can pass this message to Ichida and Tsubaki without Naraku hearing?"_

_Kagome glanced around, "I think that the same person who sent me here will be happy to help you so long as you are against Naraku. I call it Voice-san, because it has no form. Voice-san will find you I think."_

_Suki nodded, "Okay," she lightened up, "I think I have an idea of a deal Tsubaki could make," she murmured, "Yes. This could work."_

_This would work. "It'll be like walking on coals, you'll have to be careful," Kagome cautioned._

"_Coals?" Suki scoffed, "I'm very good with fire," And then for a moment, just for a moment, she looked like the archery team captain again. The smile, sadistic maybe, but promising, the glint in her eyes fascinatingly dangerous. _

_And Kagome couldn't help but smile back. _

_Suki looked all around before asking Kagome, "Now. How do you plan of leaving my mind? And how do _I _leave this state of forced subconscious?"_

_That was a good question. Kagome looked around, half expecting another doorway to appear. But there was none. That wasn't how dreams worked, "I think… since we're in a dream… we just have to wake up."_

_With an innocently curious look on her face, Suki asked, "And how do we do that?"_

_Kagome simply replied, "Think of something real."_


	21. 21 No Rest For the Wicked

S-S: Sorry about the delay folks, I began re-writing The Wonderful Takahashi of Oz, a very old fic of mine, SessxOc, check it out if you like that stuff.

Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

The blanket fell off Kagome's shoulders as she burst up from her bed. Her eyes, on autopilot, searched the blank ceiling until they locked onto the tiny glow-in-the-dark star. That was safety, to her. Stars. Cold sweat streamed down her face, her heart thumping, bpm way above normal… what had happened? She had talked with the voice, asked him to enter Suki's dream, was in a hallway, the rough man, Chimaki, Suki as a kid, then…

They had made a plan.

"Kagome?"

Her head whirled to the right, searching for the noise. Before she heard, she felt, that peak of aura, demonic aura, something familiar, why familiar? There were two other aura's in the house though, not just… "InuYasha?" she asked, her words coming out breathless. Why was he here? And for that matter, Kagome thought, looking at the window, "Why is it daytime?"

InuYasha looked relieved, so relieved. He looked at her with that intensity, something in his eye that made Kagome feel so guilty for something, something that she didn't know, something that the voices didn't answer. But that something, that intensity, that was also something safe to Kagome. It made her feel protected, and she didn't know why. "You were asleep for a while," he said, his voice taking on a gruff tone that he used when he was worried, "Kept twitching in your sleep and I couldn't wake you. What happened Kagome?" he implored.

Her brow furrowed in concentration, "Last night," she began, "I mean, not just now, but the previous night. I heard this voice in my dream after… well… it was after I mentioned Kikyo," – his face looked sadder at this, or was it darker? – "And I heard this voice. I don't know who it was, said that it wasn't properly alive anymore. Said that it had a sword, one stolen. But he said that Kikyo was a piece of my… of my guilt you see," Kagome avoided InuYasha's gaze and steered her mind away from that topic, "That was how I thought of him earlier. So tonight, he showed up again. I asked him to merge my dream with Suki's and he did. I found a way to talk to her."

"Kagome," InuYasha began seriously, "Hearing voices in dreams is never a good sign. Dreams that have the power to enter minds are usually very strong. This is serious, all right? Why did you think that you could trust it?"

Why had she trusted the voice? "It seemed… sad. Lonely," Kagome explained, "I just talked with it. There was no harm in that. And I don't think that trusting it was a bad decision either. It worked out in the end after all."

He sighed, raising his hands in a gesture of peace, "I'm not gonna argue with you. I'm just glad that you're okay. Just next time… think before trusting a bodiless voice, right?"

It was a truce, "Yeah," she replied quietly, "I guess you're right. I should've been more careful."

There was a brief second of silence, before InuYasha asked, "So you talked with the Higure? What did you talk about? Peace?"

"Yes actually," Kagome replied, shocking InuYasha, "I found out why she is working for Naraku, and a way to get rid of Naraku, or at least get on that path. You see, Suki's only working for Naraku because he's threatening her twin sister. He put a sac of venom in Chimaki's stomach, and he says that if Suki doesn't do what he says, then he'll kill her sister. Bastard," she spat before continuing, "So our plan is, Suki continues to do what Naraku tells her. Ichida will send us a message saying that she wants to leave, and will help us. We gain an ally. Tsubaki tells Naraku that she wants in on a deal with him, power or something in return for helping him out. We get more inside information that Suki, who's being blackmailed, won't get."

InuYasha let this sink in, "You came up with that? Good plan." He said this approvingly, his eyes warm and smiling, "And the Higure can be trusted? Absolutely trusted?"

"Yes," Kagome replied firmly, "I told the Voice to stay behind and help Suki get the message to Ichida and Tsubaki. They'll agree, we know it, they're really… really good friends." _Like mine used to be_, Kagome thought sadly. _Before I left them on this crazy mission of mine to kill a demon. _

There was a tapping on the window. InuYasha jumped and then grabbed a pillow off of Kagome's bed, throwing it at the window. He then hid behind the desk.

Kagome looked at him weirdly, "What." she deadpanned, "Are. You. Doing?"

"I don't know!" he replied frantically.

Kagome sighed and went over to the window. There, on the window sill, was a tiny tabby cat, holding a letter in her mouth. Kagome cooed, "Awww… what a cute kitty!" she opened the window and held out a hand, "Come on kitty, come on in."

The cat sniffed her hand approvingly before leaping to the floor of the room. She took one look at InuYasha and then walked over to Kagome instead. Kagome snickered, "Well well. I found the little doggy's weakness. Cats."

The cat rubbed affectionately against Kagome's leg, purring through what must be a full mouth of letter. Kagome leaned down and took the envelope, rubbing the cat between the ears affectionately, "Good girl, you must be from Ichida, yes?"

The cat purred again. InuYasha inched out from behind the desk, "The Kyoushin's are tiger demons. This one must be a minion or something. And why the hell did you call it a girl?" he demanded.

Kagome lifted the cat up and placed her on the window sill again, "This one had black and orange and white, that means it has three x chromosomes. Don't you know anything InuYasha?" she petted the pretty cat again before letting it go, "Good girl." The cat leapt down onto the ground and sauntered away. Kagome shut the window.

"Sheesh InuYasha, it was just a cat," she teased as she sat down to read the letter.

"What it say?" InuYasha hastily demanded, drawing the attention away from his noticeably aggravated and twitching dog ears.

Kagome scanned the letter twice and then read it once, "It_ is_ from Ichida. She wants to meet me at the school, this evening. Common ground I guess. At nine."

"Then I'll go with you," he said firmly.

She rolled her eyes, "InuYasha, I am perfectly capable-"

"I'm going with you Kagome. Don't argue about this one."

"Fine."

* * *

Suki was twitching.

No, twitching wasn't the right word. It suggested something minor. What she was doing wasn't twitching. She was pacing, stopping, looking around, nervous, agitated, uneasy, and perhaps even scared.

"Suki-nee," Chimaki asked, sitting roughly on the bed, the IV in her arm, "What is wrong? You are nervous."

One glance to her sister told Suki that the little switch in Chimaki's mind was on, leaving her brilliant. "I am, I know! I can't help it!" Suki sighed deeply and ran a hand through her bangs. She had to calm her mind, let go of the anxiety. She had had little to no practice with this. She knew better than to let go of the fear because the fear kept her fast, kept her alert, the fear was what let her hit the ground running every time. But here, now, the fear was a hindrance. The fear would not help. There was nothing Suki could do right now.

She had explained everything very carefully to Ichida and Tsubaki in the dream world. The voice sounded male to her, and she had taken to referring to it as a him. Maybe she should come up with a name that he could use till he found his old one.

Ichida was gone now, had screamed and shouted at Suki about how stupid Chimaki was such a burden. Her family, apparently, had run from the Higures. Ichida had said that it was not unreasonable for her to run as well. Ichida had spat fiery words at both her and Chimaki, and then had stormed out of the apartment.

Suki had allowed herself to let her anger at the world out at Ichida. It pained her to do so, but she knew that her friend was still her friend and that Ichida understood. That was who Ichida was. She understood.

There was something, a sense that tingled on the edge of her senses. Suki felt her body freeze up. Her heart pounded with fear. She turned around to face where the aura was coming from.

There was a flicker in the air.

And then there was Naraku.

He looked angry, vengeful. Suki dropped to the floor, bowing as deeply as she dared in front of him, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I did not know about Ichida's betrayal!" she begged, feeling tears come to her eyes. No! He couldn't have made the link! It wasn't possible! They had taken every necessary caution, hadn't they? There wasn't any way that he could have known they were planning to run!

"Are you sure?" he asked, sounding very much like he was enjoying this. He probably was too, the bastard.

"Yes!" she cried, "I didn't know, I couldn't have known! I thought Ichida was my friend, I was wrong! Her family deserted mine before, I should have seen it coming, do not blame me, she had seemed faithful before, had always seemed so. There was no way for me to predict this!"

She dared to raise her head an inch off the floor so that she could see him. Her throat caught her breath in a knot. He was angry. And he was smiling. No, it wasn't a smile. It was a cold cruel smirk, and it said that he had won, that he would always win, and that there was nothing she could do because he would just keep on winning, forever and forever, going as far into infinity as long as he was alive. "I see," he said calmly, "You didn't know."

He kept looking at her through those half-lidded red eyes of his. Red. His red eyes weren't like Suki's red eyes. Hers were the color of flame, fire, burning and dancing, something alive and dangerous. His were dangerous. But his eyes weren't red, not really. They were deep crimson, like freshly shed blood. Naraku walked around her huddled form, as if she was not of importance, and he was just deciding where to kick her.

Then his eyes flickered to Chimaki. Just for a second, just the tiniest of flickers, barely noticeable. But that second made Suki's blood turn to ice. The only thought that possibly ran through her head was, _Not her. Not her please._

"Well," Naraku said, "I take it that you are still in my service? Still… trustworthy? You aren't going to run on me, are you." It wasn't a question, and he didn't even bother to try and phrase it like one. The lie would have been too obvious to even try and fake. They both knew that Suki would never, could never run. But what he didn't know was that she could still try and undermine him in the tiniest of ways, ways that wouldn't trace to her.

It was cowardly of her, and she knew it. Using her friends and enemies alike to fight her battles while she cowered in the corner, hiding and on the defensive. It didn't feel right to her, she knew that she should be fighting with everything that she had, and this knowledge, this feeling tore at her like an animal. But… she could not fight. She had to run and hide, because until Chimaki was safe, completely safe, there would be no rest for Suki. No rest for the wicked.

"Yes," Suki said, swallowing hard, "I will never betray you. I couldn't." Beads of sweat formed at the crown of her head and rolled down her face.

Naraku stopped walking right behind her, right where she couldn't see him. There was a clang of metal or stone, and Suki felt something sharp and cold point at the back of her neck. "You will never betray me," Naraku said coldly, a command, "I will ensure this." The sharp cold point was removed from her neck, and Naraku's aura moved backwards.

She sighed in relief.

"You," Naraku ordered, "Get up."

_NO!_

Suki whirled around. Chimaki was wilting under Naraku's powerful stare, terrified, and rightly so. Suki's eyes zoned in on the blade in Naraku's hand, large sharp, and made of the most beautifully cut diamond that she had ever seen. But it was deadly. Diamond was the strongest substance on earth. And the blade was in Naraku's hands and Naraku had a finger pointed at her sister.

If she moved, who knew what he would do to Chimaki? She knew that, knew that deep inside that any movement was her sister's death. But the urge to fling herself in front of her sister was so strong, so powerful inside her that Suki had to grip the thin carpet with her fists to stop herself from moving. "Please!" she begged, almost crying, "I'll do anything that you ask! Just leave Chimaki alone! Leave her alone, please, that's all I ask!"

"You need to learn to control your subordinates better," Naraku said calmly, like chastising a child, "The punishment I believe, falls to your sister. I recently acquired this new blade, lovely, is it not? But I cannot contain it. It needs… the body of one from a strong demonic clan. Unfortunately I do not posses that quality, and the previous owner is… unavailable," he smirked at this, thinking it a joke, "But your dear sister, however, _does_."

Voice deserted her. Suki could not find herself able to speak, not through the fear. But Chimaki, her precious dear sister, did. "You're not…" Chimaki muttered, "You are a half-demon, are you not? Foul as you aura is, you are but a conglomeration of demons formed together through a human. That makes you weaker."

Naraku's eyes flashed. The diamond blade glowed blue.

He stabbed Chimaki in the stomach.

"NO!" Suki screamed, begging, desperately, praying to any god in the universe who was out there that her sister wasn't dead. "NO! You can't! Chimaki-nee-san!" she ran as fast as she could to her sister's side, her arms held out to catch her frail sister's falling body.

"Oh," the word slipped off Chimaki's lips as quiet as a whisper. Her eye lids fluttered closed.

There wasn't any blood, there should have been blood. And the sword was gone. Chimaki was unhurt and the sword was gone. Suki breathed again. She felt her sister's pulse, her fingers fumbling on her wrist. Steady. Beating. Alive. "Thank god," she gasped, holding her sister's body close.

"She is alive," Naraku said, observing this, "For now. She merely is the new vessel for that blade. If you, or your subordinates, step out of line again, your sister will pay the price."

Then he vanished.

The cold cruel warning echoed around in Suki's mind, even long after Naraku had left. Even when Suki and Chimaki were left all alone, and there wasn't a single aura around for miles, she still didn't relax. She couldn't. Not after that threat. Not while Ichida was out there right now, doing something that Suki was now beginning to regret.

* * *

S-S: I would like to thank a reviewer of mine for reminding me about that blade. It had totally slipped my mind. Thanks!


	22. 22 Everything Begins

S-S: Oh... I have been waiting to write this chapter since… well… since the beginning of the story. This, my friends, is where we find out… _everything_. And I am proud of myself as well. No one has guessed this yet, no one! Read on and enjoy the reveal, my dear readers!

I may or may not own InuYasha. But technically no.

* * *

This was eerie. There was no other word for it really, nothing to describe the strangeness and oddness.

The school was deserted, the moon looming overhead in place of the yellow brightness of electric lights that normally surrounded the building. Bathed in ethereal glow, the building couldn't be more foreboding. Large, tall, and dangerous, the building looked like an abandoned house. Alone, silent, and rumored to be haunted. More shadows and dark corners than lights, the school was not where Kagome wanted to be right now, or indeed, _ever_.

She stood in front of the dark and silent building, feeling very glad indeed that InuYasha was waiting on his motorbike in the car park. He had accompanied her of course, there was no way to talk him out of it. at first Kagome had been unsure, as the letter had mentioned nothing about bringing back-up, but there was just something so reassuring about the two of them. InuYasha and Kagome, fighting the forces of evil. Together. In her hand was her new bow, specially made with a quiver of arrows. The arrowheads were made of obsidian, and there wasn't a single metal component anywhere. That had been InuYasha's present before.

Kagome, for some reason, felt bad that she had nothing to give him in return.

Dressed all in black, turtleneck and denim, Kagome blended into the night like a particularly talented chameleon. She pushed open the heavy doors of the school, and the small sound that this made echoed around the deserted building. Her footsteps boomed as well, just small taps against the tiled floor.

Double checking the note in her hand once again, she hurried as silently as she could to the archery club room. Such a fitting place to meet, yet such a sadly nostalgic one. That was where she had first met them after all. Even though she knew now that that meeting had probably been planned out. It didn't matter. They had still been friends, she knew that.

And her talk with Suki proved that they still were.

Friends till the end, whenever that may be.

There was no need the check where she was going, to look for landmarks hidden in the dark. Her feet didn't need light to find their way. After walking to the club room so many times, she had memorized the path, her muscles remembering better than her mind ever could. She came to a halt in front of the door.

This was it.

Showtime.

Her left hand, the one not holding her bow, reached up and gripped the cold metal handle. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she opened the door. Half of the archery club room was open the the outside, looking out onto the school grounds. This let the moonlight our into the room, illuminating the two figures in it.

"Hello Ichida," Kagome said calmly.

Her friend looked happy to see her. Oh, she looked cool, calm, indifferent, and slightly angry, yes. But beneath that act, just behind her jade eyes, there was a tiny little spark of happy that would not go out. Ichida was standing in the moonlight, the glow making her short orange hair look like a crown. She was wearing her black gloves again, going up to her wrist and covering what Kagome know knew to be orange and red fur. How was Ichida not cold, dressed in that halter top when Kagome was shivering in a turtleneck.

"Hey Kagome," Ichida replied, just as coolly.

This wasn't right. There should have been an exuberant greeting and then a bone-crushing hug. Everything really had changed, hadn't it? And Kagome had no idea how to make things go back to normal again.

"I got your note," she said lamely, "So you left them, huh?"

The red head nodded slowly, "It was long past time. Chimaki was Suki's burden, always had been, not my problem, you know. Just got tired of her making us defend her own problems. So I left."

Play the game, she reminded herself. Remember why they were here. "And so you decided to join us?" Kagome prompted, "Why? What for? Seems to me like a bad idea to propose an alliance to the people you used to be fighting."

Shrugging, Ichida replied simply, "Protection."

"Protection?" she asked, frowning.

Ichida nodded, "Suki'll be angry with me. Maybe even Naraku, although I've never directly worked for him. I'm not Suki, I don't have what it takes to run from someone like that. Your side, InuYasha's side, that's the only place I'm safe. It's as good as running I suppose."

Kagome let her face turn angry, pulling out anger from tiny things so that it would look real. She had to pull off this act. "Oh, and we can trust you, can we?" she accused. She hated this, being angry and rude to Ichida, when she knew that it wasn't her friend's fault at all. In fact, it was more Kagome's fault than anyone else's. Her burden and she was making everyone else pay. That was quite selfish of her.

Ichida's eyes began to water, "Yes! I'm not lying to you, really I'm not!"

An eyebrow raised skeptically, Kagome retorted with fake sarcasm, "Because you've never lied to us before, right?" at this, she had to stop because Ichida looked too hurt, "Doesn't matter," she said hastily, "Swear you're not lying."

Sadness washed over Ichida's face, real sadness. And regret, there was regret there plain as day. They had never wanted to betray her, had they? That had never wanted to do any of this, not a single thing, not a single murder, but Naraku had made them, blackmailed them and forced them to do so against their will, and now there was _real _anger burning through Kagome. Ichida opened her mouth and then closed it, "I can't," she said helplessly, "I've got nothing to swear on."

Nothing. The word hit Kagome with a punch to the face. The lie was getting harder and harder to keep up, the façade more difficult to maintain. She just wanted to give her friend a hug. Her friend. Who had nothing, not any more. Hell, Ichida hadn't even sworn on her life. "Fine," she said, the bitterness half-hearted at best, "I'll believe you."

Ichida visibly relaxed, "You won't regret this! I won't be a burden, I promise! I'll help!"

"I know," Kagome replied sadly. And it was true, it really was. Ichida would help, she would just help and help and help, and then when things got beyond her and when things got to be too challenging, she would just keep on helping. Ichida just didn't ever give up on people.

She beamed, "Oh, I should show you this," Ichida said, like she had forgotten it. Her hand reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny fragment of a jewel, "See?"

Jewel fragments.

Why were jewel fragments important? What had InuYasha said about jewel fragments? Broken with an arrow – her arrow – and split into shards. But this… it couldn't be. It wasn't. The voices told her that it wasn't. It didn't feel like it was either, and she had absolutely how a jewel shard could feel like something. She just knew that it didn't. "What is that?" she asked, curiously tempted to reach out and touch the tiny sliver of iridescent stone.

Ichida frowned, "Fuyoheki. Shards of the Fuyoheki. It's a stone that hides demonic aura and scent and stuff. It's how we've been hiding. Suki gave one to me and one to Tsubaki, and kept one for herself. She got them from Naraku apparently."

That explained a lot. Kagome remembered a day, seemingly ages ago now. She had looked at Suki and thought how strange her eyes were, even wondered if she was a demon, but had dismissed it because Suki had no aura. "So you've been using that… jewel… to hide your aura from me and InuYasha all this time? The perfect way to hide…" she mused.

With a nod, Ichida replied, "Yes. We have been for a while," she looked guilty at this, like it was her fault.

"If you have fragments," Kagome pondered, her mental gears churning away, "Then do you think Naraku has the rest of the jewel and is using it to hide himself?"

"Must be, I suppose," Ichida replied shrugging, "Makes sense."

Hold on. Kagome had missed something. She had thought it, and then she had missed it. "Wait," she said slowly, gripping the thought by the scruff of the neck, "You said that Suki got the shards from Naraku… but she gave them to you. So… you and Tsubaki have never actually seen Naraku?"

Ichida paused, like she too was attempting to see the bigger picture, "Yes. We've never… never seen him."

Holding up a finger, Kagome instructed, "That's important, remember that." She paused and but her lip. She was gathering the pieces to this puzzle, slowly but surely, "Why were you here, in this school, this archery club, all that?"

"Naraku's orders," Ichida replied, looking glum, "We were supposed to keep an eye on you, make sure you didn't do anything that would jog your memory. Or do anything suspicious, really. Just sort of surveillance."

"That's important as well," Kagome noted, more to herself now than to Ichida, "How long have you been here? I can't remember."

"Two and a half years, about," Ichida said, her brow furrowing in concentration, "Naraku got in touch with Suki a few months before then. So I suppose… just under three years."

Three years.

Three years.

Three… years…

"_Three years!_" Kagome burst out. She had all the pieces now, all that was left to do was put the puzzle together.

Ichida looked confused at her sudden outburst, "Yeah, three years. What's important about that?"

"Everything," Kagome muttered, "It's got to be three years. That's the link, the connection. Oh!" she realized, remembering something, "Suki said so! When we fought, after the tournament, she said… that Naraku wanted us to draw the link between her and then murders. Because if we thought that was the connection, the secret, then we would stop searching for one!"

Ichida blinked, a slow realization beginning to dawn, "And you think that by making the fact that Suki is a Higure and the killer a secret then-"

Kagome hurriedly finished her sentence, "Then it would be a cover! Hiding a second connection, something else! More dots to link up!"

"Kagome, you're not making a whole lot of sense," Ichida said cautiously, "Maybe you're just trying to _make_ everything fit."

She shook her head, "No Ichida," Kagome said firmly, "Because the connection is three years. It has to be. Everything fits!"

"I don't get it," Ichida said, still wary.

"Three years! You've been working for Naraku for three years, you just said! And InuYasha said…at the funeral, he said that about two and a half years ago, when you arrived here, two and a half years ago was when our friends from the feudal era began to be killed," Kagome was seeing the puzzle now, just had to put down a few more pieces, "Naraku came here three years ago! No…" it was more than that, "Three years… The stars! On my ceiling! They've been there for three years! And my memory from three years ago, that's when things got fuzzy! The dream! Oh the dream! I've had it for three years! That means… three years ago was when I lost my memories."

Ichida was frozen now, stock still from shock or fear. Kagome didn't notice. She was too busy thinking. There was something else, something big, something important, something that would change everything. "My necklace," Kagome muttered, feeling scared and nervous and excited all at once, "I've had it for three years. But it… it was smaller before. Jewels _don't_ grow. No," realization hit her, "It couldn't be."

"What necklace?" Ichida asked warily. This was getting explosive, they both could tell. Something big was about to happen.

Subconsciously, Kagome's hand reached up to rest on the tiny bump beneath her sweater, "I didn't show anyone," she murmured, "No one at all. I just… kept it hidden, always. Out of sight. Mine and safe. Always. No one else has seen it."

Ichida took a step closer, "Kagome, I've never heard of a jewel grow before. Only… only one… The jewel that Naraku wanted," her eyes grew wide, "I've heard legends. From my father, just stories from when I was a kid. People said it was just a myth, that it didn't exist, that it had never existed. They said that it was just a story that someone had made up to scare people. Like telling your kids not to go into the woods because of werewolves," she looked up at Kagome, "You can't be saying that."

"Exactly," Kagome said breathlessly, "My necklace is the Shikon-no-tama."

Ichida gasped, her hand thrown over her mouth to muffle the sound as she stumbled backwards across the floor. "Impossible!" she squeaked, "That's what Naraku wants! It's what he's after!"

But there was more than that. "Three years ago… what else happened three years ago? There was something!" Kagome began to pace.

"If I was Naraku, what would I do? I find that my enemy, in this case, me, has lost their memories! I want to watch them, make sure that they don't remember. But I want the jewel, and this enemy might be the only person who knows where it is, if only they can remember. So I place people to watch her, monitor her condition, keep me updated in case she remembers anything. But I don't trust them, I don't even trust them enough to show them my face. How could I trust them to do this important task? I would try and prod the enemies memories, try to have her remember just enough. And stay close to her, so that I can watch as well, because I don't trust these people.

"What happened three years ago?! Here?! Not InuYasha related, or mystic related! Just… normal. I didn't notice, it was just some occurrence, not important. Three years ago… a new teacher transferred into this high school," Kagome gasped as she had to finish her sentence, "That means… Naraku is Saiseki-sensei."

_Clap._

_Clap._

_Clap_.

"Well done. _Higurashi-san._"


	23. 23 Time to Remember

S-S: Yeah, so sorry for the late update. School crap got in the way. BTW: this chapter merits a higher rating for InuYasha's mouth.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

"Well done. _Higurashi-san_."

Kagome froze. Everything froze. Her blood, her heart, her mind, all of it, every single part of Higurashi Kagome froze from terror. The voices were screaming, louder than ever before, yelling and pounding away at the inside of her mind and they were so loud and so bright and one of them sounded _exactly_ _like Kagome_. The voice was cold and cruel and she had heard it before, heard it at school and heard it in her mind and in her dream but she had never made the connection before, how could she have missed it, it was so obvious! It was evil, it was hell, it was Naraku.

_Where was silver!?_

There was Naraku, and he was evil, but Kagome needed there to be silver. Her mind screamed for silver, because silver was safety, silver was protection, and part of silver was love as well. Silver fought, always fought. Silver would drive away Naraku, silver always had, always would, the always stretching on into infinity because silver just always fought Naraku. But she couldn't remember if silver had always won.

Eyes weren't working right now, but if Kagome had been able to look towards the other side of the room, she would see that Ichida was frozen as well. Naraku was leaning against the door, smirking, looking exactly as a villain should. Despicable. He stood and walked slowly across the room, his hands in his pockets, looking relaxed and completely comfortable.

"Impressive deduction," Naraku said, the complement confusing because Kagome couldn't tell if it was a complement or not, "I will admit that I had not expected you to come to this conclusion so soon. I had hoped for a little more time. But no matter. The game is up now. Time to stop playing around."

Ichida unfroze, and burst out, "Leave her alone!"

Naraku turned his head and glared at her, the venom in his eyes silencing her in a second. "I will do as I like. _Traitor_," he turned back to Kagome, his head moving without the rest of his body even flinching, "Come now, Higurashi-san, you have not said a word. Not even a question."

Kagome gaped, her jaw open just a millimeter as she whispered, hardly able to form a sound, "H…how…?" How was he here? How had he managed to run? How had he escaped silver?

He paused, and raised an eyebrow, "How? How did I find you? Easily. You were hardly the most difficult of prey, it took almost no time to dispose of Kanna and follow you down the well. You had been 'healing', that silly old Kaede helping you. I took the last shard of the Shikon-no-Tama with me when I entered the well. Unfortunately it got left behind, and I thought that I had lost it forever, trapped on this side of time," he glared at her, "And then you returned, and I thought the jewel was lost to me forever. But now it's back. Fate seems to favor me, does it not?"

Kagome's panicked and whirling mind tried to make sense of this, tried to piece things together. "But… my memories…" When did he wipe her mind? When, how? What did he do? And the not knowing was not the thing that scared her the most, because she could handle not knowing how she forgot, but what scared her the most was in fact, what she would know once she got her memories back. She wasn't sure if she wanted to remember.

He frowned, and a look of shear disappointment crossed his face, a look not unlike one that Saiseki-sensei had given her, but that was because they had been the same person all along, and she had to remember that. "You honestly thought that _I_ was the one to remove your memories?" he asked tauntingly, "What a fool. I have been attempting to force you to remember the Shikon-no-Tama – not all of your memories, there is a distinction, but some yes. What use would I have for you to forget? You were broken completely after our last _encounter_, and had I been uninjured, I would have not hesitated in attacking you again."

Then what happened!?

_Forget, Higurashi Kagome! You have to forget! Forget, and live!_

The voices! She felt her breath choking in her throat and stifling her voice in a way that made her want to cry, or maybe she was choking because she was crying and the tears simply ailed to come. What did this mean?! And why were the voices so loud!? They were booming in her head, louder and more forceful than ever before, screaming out at her and demanding to be listened to. Why couldn't the voices just go away?!

"No," he continued, despite the fact that Kagome swore she just screamed at him to shut up – or had that outburst been in her mind only? – "I did nothing to tapper with your memory. When I emerged on this side of the well, I'm sure that you can imagine my… confusion. Perhaps you experienced the same when you first arrived in the past?" he waited for her to reply before waving it off at her refusal to speak, "As I oriented myself in this world, I came to look for you. And can you guess what I saw?" he asked, in that calm taunting voice that froze her to her core.

Ichida shakily took a step forward, "Naraku, just leave Kagome alone! She's had enough to deal with from you! Just-!"

And then her voice died as Naraku was suddenly right in front of her, less than an inch from her nose, "You need to quite down," he said, deadly calm and quiet. That was how you knew he was angry. Not because he burst out in anger, no, because he was calm.

With a simple swat of a hand, Ichida was hit in the face. There was a painful smack, and Ichida gasped out in pain, throwing her hands up to defend a second too late. She fell backwards, skidding painfully across the floor until she crashed into a box of arrows and lay still.

"Ichida!" Kagome cried, stumbling forward to get to her friend. She had to make sure that Ichida was okay, because no one else who had gone against Naraku had been okay, and she couldn't let that happen to Ichida, not to anyone else, not ever again, she wasn't going to let anyone die! "Ichida!" she called again, grasping her bow as she rushed to her friend.

Short orange hair fell in a sheet around Ichida's face, looking like a dead curtain. Her form was crumpled in on herself, like a broken doll that someone hadn't bothered to fix. A red slash marred her cheek where she had been struck and her breathing was strained and lacking the reassuring rhythm of health. Kagome pressed her finger's to Ichida's pulse pointlessly, just to confirm that she was alive. Her conscious mind may have told her that breathing meant life, but she had to confirm anyways, just because she couldn't bear to possibility of false hope.

"You didn't have to hurt her!" Kagome cried, unconsciously moving in front of her friend.

Naraku gave her a look, like she was a silly little child, and she was utterly wrong, "Your _friend_ over there, was in my way," he stepped towards Kagome, "We were in the middle of a most enthralling conversation. And I believe I was telling you about your precious lost memories."

Kagome still wanted to scream at him, still wanted to cry and shout about the horrors he had done, and why should she listen to him. Scream at him because he hurt Ichida, and Kagome couldn't stand to have anyone else hurt. Because hurt was one step away from dead and dead was too final to even think about. The voices were both deathly silent and unbearably loud at exactly the same time. She couldn't think well at all. But she fell silent at Naraku's command anyways because she just had to listen to this. She had to know about her memories, even in the information came from the least trustworthy source there was.

"I saw you emerge from the well," Naraku continued, "Going back to your precious family, crying. Such a broken child you were. And then… you did something that I did not expect. You wanted to forget, so you used the only means necessary to ensure that you did. There was a flash of light, and I never saw the jewel again. Till today, that is."

_NO! FORGET!_

Kagome screamed. She screamed and screamed and covered her ears with her hands in a desperate attempt to shut out the voices, both Naraku's and her own. She was crying, in the past, in the present, always crying, for the dead and the gone, but they couldn't be gone if she didn't remember them and it wasn't like they were alive to hate her for it and she was so so weak and there was nothing else she could do if she wanted to keep living. And keep living was the only thing that InuYasha had asked of her, at the end. She couldn't break that promise. Not now not ever.

There had been only one option. If Kagome wanted to live, then she would have to forget, because she had no idea how she could keep on living with the blood in her mind, blood and silver, it hadn't been red, no, not red at all, it had been blood, blood and silver, always those two over and over _and over and over-_

There was a flicker of demonic energy and a blur of red before-

"Get the hell away from her." InuYasha snarled.

Kagome managed to turn her head towards silver, just barely, InuYasha striding towards Kagome. "Inu… Yasha…?" she choked. How was he here? Did he hear her screaming and come running? He always came at just the right moment, didn't he? Just… the right… moment… Why was that a bad thing!? "I'm sorry, Ichida was hurt and Naraku was-" her ramblings were cut off with another hacky sob.

InuYasha held out a hand and pulled Kagome to her shaky feet. Once she was steady, he turned to Naraku, a glare in his eyes of pure hatred, nothing that Kagome had ever seen before, scary and terrifying, or it would have been had the glare been directed towards her. "Hello. Bastard," he said venomously at Naraku, "What the hell did you do to Kagome!?"

Naraku smirk like a cheshire cat, "I did nothing. I merely thought that she would benefit from learning the truth of why her memories were lost. Aren't you interested as well?" he asked InuYasha.

The hanyou froze, his hand tight around the hilt of the Tetsusaiga, not moving, "You fucker. What did you say to her?!" he demanded.

Kagome wanted to tell InuYasha how sorry she was. This was her fault, all her fault, it had always been her fault and her fault got everyone killed and got InuYasha killed but he wasn't dead anymore and that was all that mattered, and that wasn't her fault. The only good thing that ever happened to her wasn't her fault, while everything bad was. How was that fair? It wasn't, it was her fault. And now Ichida was hurt too, and that was Kagome's fault as well.

A gloved hand twitched, "K-kagome?" Ichida rasped, struggling to sit up, her limbs heavy and cumbersome. She planted her hands on the floor and pushed part of her torso up, bringing her legs forward with obvious difficulty, "Wh-what is InuYasha doing here?" she said, her voice sore.

InuYasha glanced down at Ichida, "You're our ally, now right? Good, now shut up. I'm here because Kagome needs help, and you do too, so keep your mouth closed and run when I tell you to and fight when I say so. Got that?" he said this all quickly and with the air of someone who wasn't expecting an argument.

Ichida nodded furiously, "Understood."

Golden eyes flickered back to Naraku, "Now," InuYasha said, "You are going to tell me exactly what you said to Kagome."

Naraku sighed dramatically, "But of course, why would I keep secrets from such an old friend? I told dear Kagome over there that she was responsible for her loss of memories. She made a little wish on the Shikon-no-Tama, and decided that it was all too horrible to bear, so that it would simply be best to forget it all happened," at InuYasha's shocked expression, he added, "Oh? You didn't know that she kept the jewel all this time? Never told you, did she? That's all right, it's her fault. She probably had forgotten all about that important fact as well."

InuYasha snarled, withdrawing the Tetsusaiga in an instant, the flash of light as the blade transformed into a fang making the dark walls glow. "Don't you dare!" he yelled, "Don't you dare try to blame this on Kagome! I ain't gonna blame her, not after five hundred years without her! And you Naraku, you are gonna die. Right here, right now!"

"Oh?" Naraku asked silkily, his smirk fading to a frown. His form seemed to flicker as his anger became so intense that it was almost tangible, "You? With an injured Kyoushin who ran from her family to a battlefield? With a half-mad miko, weak enough to magic her pains away by wishing on a forbidden jewel? Please, by all means try."

InuYasha kicked Ichida lightly with the heel of his foot and whispered so low that only her and Kagome could hear, "Run…"

Ichida's green eyes narrowed with determination as she stood up, trying as hard as she could to hide the shaking in her legs. With a gloved hand, she wiped off the blood that marred her cheek, and grabbed one of Kagome's hands tightly, "Just hold on," she muttered.

Kagome couldn't really understand what she was saying, "You're… okay?" she asked, unsure if the Ichida standing here was really the real one. Was her friend truly all right? Everything seemed so fragile, that if one piece fell down, it would never be whole again, no matter what they tried. Was Ichida just a piece? A piece of glass? A piece of a jewel? Why did it always come back to jewel shards in the end?

Why couldn't it all end in silver?

Part of her was vaguely aware of Ichida tightening her hold on her wrist, of InuYasha raising his blade into the air like a vengeful god. The rest of her was just thinking about how simple things could be. Everything would be fine if it all just ended in silver.

"RUN!"


	24. 24 Ruled by Fate

S-S: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I wish you all very full bellies and the best of cold turkey sandwiches for days to come!

Yeah, I really don't own InuYasha. Why are we still going over this?

* * *

"RUN!"

In a blink of an eye, faster than anything, faster than even InuYasha, Ichida had pulled Kagome to the side of the room. They were faced by a sliding metal barrier, heavy and thick, pulled down at the end of the day to close the outside half of the club room off. Ichida didn't bother pulling up the metal door. She raised her right hand, her arm pulsed, and she punched the metal.

With a crack, the huge door flew right off the side of the school, crumpled around where Ichida had punched it like the metal were naught more than paper. Ichida gripped Kagome's wrist tighter and pulled her out of the building, and into the dark night.

Behind them, InuYasha brought down his sword, "KAZE NO KIZU!"

An explosion of light and energy slashed towards Naraku, leaving paths of destruction in its wake, deep gouges into the floor. Naraku simply held up a hand, and a shield flickered into existence, the energy warping and twisting around it until it dissipated. Naraku smirked, pleased at the uselessness of InuYasha's efforts.

"Well well. I am disappointed. Five hundred years and all you have to offer is the same old trick?" he said tauntingly.

InuYasha, surprisingly enough, did not seem perturbed by this at all, "I knew you would block that, Naraku," he said, anger hidden by calm, "I was merely buying time for Kagome and the Kyoushin to escape. You've kinda become stupider over these three years that you've been hiding out." He twirled the blade delicately in his hand, like a performer would do for an audience.

"You've learned to plan ahead, at least," Naraku committed dryly, with little to no actual praise in his words, "And here I was afraid that you would go for your old plan of attack- charge in blindly, swinging your blade like an axe."

The two began to move, slowly circling each other in the large room, two enemies with eyes only for the fight that was about to come. This fight was an old one, a fight that was more of a war, a long and fierce battle that would end only when one – or both – of them lay dead. There was a familiarity to InuYasha's pacing, the step of his foot combined with the slow twirling of his sword. This was the silver against the darkness. And the two would always fight. Because they were opposites. And opposites always fought.

"I've learned a lot of things," the hanyou said casually, "You know, after I thought Kagome was dead, I spent all my time learning how I could have beaten you back then. Tricks and skills and such, you know. I think it's high time I test some of those tricks out on you."

The laugh was short, not even a laugh really, just a sound of victory, "Tricks?" Naraku scorned, "And you think that mere tricks will be enough to defeat me?" he stood straighter, as if drawing himself up to be taller than InuYasha, "You have gotten weak."

"No, you have," InuYasha retorted quickly, "And I am gonna beat you. Come on, you're smart, I know that you probably found out everything that you could 'bout me once you knew I was still alive. Did you hear what my reputation is? I'm actually pretty proud of it," he said, the bragging more asserting his fame than anything else.

"What?" Naraku taunted, "The story's from the wars? Of how you never lost a battle? Or do you mean the tales of your most famous feat of all, the destruction of the Higure? They say that you single handedly forced the Kyoushin to run. That you simply walked into the Higure's palace, killed the Yozeme, and then slew the last of the Higure with a single strike. I thought they were a bit exaggerated myself."

InuYasha shrugged, "A bit over the top, the way you told it. But yeah, I did do all those things," he smirked, the words accented by the high noise of the blade as it sliced through the air, him spinning it faster and faster in his hand, "I grew strong while you skipped through time. And now, I'm gonna finish what you started all those years ago. I'm going to kill you."

Naraku's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You will never defeat me. I have waited three years for this."

InuYasha's blade stopped swinging through the air, "And I've waited five hundred."

* * *

Kagome paused for breath once the two of them took a short break, panting out of both physical and mental exhaustion. The redhead could run faster than anything, and even though Kagome's hadn't been doing a lot of running on her end, even trying to keep going took a lot out of her.

Ichida tossed her a set of keys, the metal reflecting in the dark like tiny pinpricks of light, "Here. My car will be in the lot, take it and drive wherever you're gonna be safe, kay Kagome-chan?" she instructed, tugging off her black gloves and placing them in her pocket. The black fabric revealed the red and orange fur of a tiger, claws sharp and threatening, something that always gave Kagome a small shock to see. Her friends just weren't human.

She caught the keys with a bit of fumbling, finding even the smallest of thoughts hard to focus on, her mind still little more than a blur, focused more on the forgotten mists of the past than on the current now, "And what are… you going to do?" she asked hazily.

Her friend's face was firm, unlike what it should be, what it normally was, "I'm going..." she hesitated, unsure of the answer to give, what the right thing to do was, "… to be right behind you. Wait for me to get there, I just need to grab something first."

With a nod, Kagome rushed off towards the parking lot, away from the dark building of the school.

But Ichida made no movement. Her nose twitched, Kagome was far enough away. Then she waited another second, because she had to be sure that Kagome wouldn't come back, and also because she herself was very, very scared. Very scared indeed. But she had to do this. They made a promise, an old promise, many years ago, and they were still going to keep it. That was what they did. They kept their promises.

Slowly, Ichida reached into her pocket, her eyes tightly closed. Her bright green eyes could glitter in the night and see through the dark like child's play, but seeing this, this might cause her actual pain. She pulled out the thin scroll, painted in a shaky hand with green bamboo and a dancing tiger that had been beautiful to her once but just seemed to mock her now. Retrieving this single item had been painful. She hadn't known that her aunt still lived, and still held loyalty to the clan's secrets, and it had been painful to hurt her own flesh and blood. But Ichida knew that it had been worth it.

She set the scroll on the ground, her claws fumbling with the knot that kept it closed. Every single muscle in her body was trembling, because she did not want to do this. Ichida was supposed to be brave, her clan – now pointless to call herself one of them, not after she had killed her own relatives and betrayed them – had always been called the bravest. It wasn't true, she supposed. Just another lie and tale of propaganda that was meant to boost their status. They were all cowards. They had all ran when it had came time to pay their true loyalty, they had all turned tail and ran off into the distance, never looking back out of shame. Except Ichida. Who had stayed. It hadn't been bravery, it had been loyalty and stupidity.

Taking a deep breath, she slid a claw under the top page and was about to tug it open, revealing the contents of the scroll.

Then there was a hand, cold and pale as death, pressed firmly onto the fur of Ichida's own hand. A calm voice in her ear said simply, "No."

And then the voice and the hand vanished, as did the person they were connected to. Ichida saw a flash of black hair, dark eyes glinting like beetles in the night and reflecting the moon better than any mirror. She knew what the 'no' had meant. It was a no, but an order, firm and not to be disobeyed. Not a never sort of 'no', but one that said 'later'. Not yet.

This fate was one that was inevitable to them, the two knew that well. It could be put off, and delayed, but it was to be used. The scrolls were a constant reminder of just how far the morality of the three clans had fallen. Suki was lucky in that one way. The Higure had considered themselves above such things, leaving the messiest of tasks up to the two vassal clans that serviced them. But for the other two, the scrolls would be their fate in the end. It always had been.

Ichida breathed a sigh of release, her hands dropping the scroll, "Thanks, Tsubaki-chan."

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

"_These will be your vassals when you take over the clan." The tall man dressed in blood red had said this firmly, only the barest of glances in the direction of the girl to know that he was addressing her and not someone else. _

_The other two men, one that Ichida knew as 'father', were kneeled in front of him, lowered in status by his mere presence. Ichida was tiny, all messy orange hair and big green eyes that looked like lamps with cat-eye slits. She held her head bowed in the presence of this man, clearly her better, and as her father had instructed her, the leader of the Higure, the man who controlled the power of lava, and the one who dominated the three clans. _

_Ichida risked a tiny glance at the other girl. What had father said her name was? Tsubaki, right? She was taller than Ichida was, but at their young age – they were both about six human years – the differences hardly mattered because they were both growing. The other girl had dark hair that fell in a straight line to her shoulders, wore the customary black clothing of her clan, and she was delicate, like her features were made of porcelain, and yet Ichida was kinda afraid of the look in her black eyes. They were cold, unmoving, unforgiving, exactly what an emotionless killer like a ninja should be. And at the same time, Ichida could tell that Tsubaki was lonely, so very alone. _

_That was settled then. She was going to be Ichida's new friend. _

"_I understand," the daughter of the Higure said. Ichida allowed herself to look at her for a moment, but her gaze was captured for longer than that. Everyone knew who she was, Higure Suki-sama, the next heir to the clan of fire, the stone hearted child. Short hair of a shade of purple so dark that it held tints of black, the tattoo of proficiency and power already marring her skin. And her red eyes… If Ichida had thought Tsubaki to be unmoving, then this girl blew her out of the water. Ichida was good at emotions, better than anyone she knew. And she had no idea of Suki, not at all. Her eyes were like a brick wall that covered her soul. _

_Ichida was going to be her friend, whether Suki-sama liked it or not. _

_And she got her chance, two days later. _

_She made the mistake of following Suki. In retrospect, she realized that it would have been better to ask Tsubaki for help with this task, seeing as how the ninja girl was a master of stealth, and she was not. Ichida wasn't exactly clumsily, and while she possessed her family's incredible speed, she also held a strength that she was not yet excellent at controlling. It always was an embarrassment when she put her foot through floors or broke her own possessions. _

_But the fruit of her efforts was realized after three hours on the second day. Suki had finished training with her father for the day, and was tired, thereby also making her less alert in her surroundings – a plus for Ichida – and she had been on her way, not to her rooms as usual, but to the edge of the compound. Ichida had followed Suki until the girl had vanished into a small storage shed in the forest._

_That was when Ichida probably should have stopped, turned around, and left Suki be. _

_But she didn't, fool that she was. _

_She had opened the door with as much silence as she could and peered inside, looking for whatever treasures and secrets and hidden toys that Suki must keep in here. Because her childish mind automatically jumped to the thought that the only thing that Suki could possibly be hiding at such a young age was something trivial. Ichida was wrong. The storage room was dusty and cramped and cozy at the same time, the heavy dust making Ichida's nose twitch in annoyance and the desire to sneeze. _

_Suki was there, she could see her quite clearly. And there was someone else. Someone who looked exactly like Suki, only not. Frailer, thinner, paler hair and skin and the distinctive lack of the tattoo signature to the clan. A twin? _

_Twin. What had Ichida's father said about the Higure and a twin, said it a long time ago, but Ichida remembered it still, the thought tickling at the back of her mind. There was once a twin, the second daughter of Higure Fuson. What had her father said? The twin was sick, a disgrace, and the twin had been killed as a baby in the only way that Higure killed their own. The baby had been drowned in a bucket of water – the ultimate disgrace for a clan of fire users. There couldn't have been triplets, could there? No, that wasn't possible. So this was the twin? The twin that had lived instead of died._

_Ichida shuddered as a wave of demonic energy rolled over her. Suki had noticed her presence. _

_Suki stood slowly, and turned to face Ichida with a look of hate marring her face, "Come out where I can see you!" she demanded, the order sounding like a yell, but being deadly flat. _

_Ichida gulped and shakily stepped inside the shed. This was the end for her, she knew that. She had made the mistake of trying to find out Suki's secrets and now she was going to be killed for that mistake. Ichida held her hands up at her sides in a gesture of goodwill, she was unarmed, and she wasn't going to do anything. She couldn't. What was there to do against an opponent that she had wronged and that was so much stronger than herself?_

_Suki's eyes narrowed, "And you!" she ordered. _

_What? There was another? Ichida was confused, she didn't know what had happened, had there been another to follow Suki?_

_Slowly, and with all the grace of silence itself, Tsubaki stepped into the shed as well. She must have been right behind Ichida, and Ichida hadn't noticed one. Tsubaki sunk into a bow, "My apologies, Suki-sama, it was not my intent to anger you."_

_Suki strode towards the two of them, "You two. You followed me here. Uninvited. You tried to spy on me, to learn my secrets. What the hell possessed you to be so foolish as to think that you could spy on me?!"_

_Tsubaki found her voice first, "I followed Ichida-san here, believing that she had ill intentions. I apologize if I was incorrect in my judgment, but I was instructed that my duty was to keep you from harm, Suki-sama."_

"_I'm so sorry!" Ichida cried, "I followed you here, I wanted to be your friend! It was all my fault, please don't hurt Tsubaki-san!"_

_Suki's face did not soften, remaining just as furious and angry as before. She held up a hand, and Ichida closed her eyes, certain that this was going to be the end of her. Suki was going to kill her, and it was all because Ichida had been stupid and foolish and had tried to pry into business that wasn't her own. But her body was still screaming, because damnit all, justified or not, she still didn't want to die. _

"_Suki-nee!" the twin cried, "Don't! Don't kill them!"_

_Suki dropped her hand in an instant as if she had been the one to get burned. Stumbling, as if ashamed at what she had done, she backed away from the two of them hurrying instead towards her twin sister, as if she was still trying to protect her. "But Chimaki-nee," she said._

_The twin, Chimaki, stood up and ran over to the two of them, hiding behind Suki's back, "They are not going to hurt me. They meant no harm in coming here," she said, her voice becoming clearer and more pronounced. It was like something clicked in her mind, illuminating her own world. "I want them to be our friends. You two aren't going to hurt me." It wasn't a question. Somehow, she knew. _

_Ichida and Tsubaki shook their heads. "We're not going to hurt you," Ichida said, "Are you Suki's twin sister?"_

_Chimaki nodded, "I've been hiding here and Suki-nee keeps me safe."_

"_Swear that you won't tell anyone about her. Or what you've seen here." Suki demanded, ever her sister's shield. _

"_I swear." Tsubaki promised, her hand over her heart._

"_I swear." Ichida echoed. _

"_On pain of death?" Suki cautioned, an eyebrow raised in curiosity as if she expected them to run._

_They did not, and both nodded. _

_Ichida glanced up, and she saw a part of Suki melt. Not a lot of her, just a tiny part of her heart that had once been frozen and cemented and then bricked over. It started to melt. Suki was letting them in. _

"_All right. You may rise," Suki said, her voice sounding strange. She held out her hand, "Our three families have worked together for hundreds of years. But it wasn't an equal relationship. The Higure were in command, the two families little more than servants. You two have sworn loyalty to me. The three will stand strong once again, even if we three are the only ones left. My goal is to create a place where Chimaki-nee can be safe. Will you help me?"_

"_We will," Tsubaki said firmly. _

_Ichida nodded, "We're not gonna betray you, we promise."_

_Suki gave them one last look, "Then I pronounce ourselves a team. We're the second coming of what our fathers once called the Triad. Only we will be better than them. We will save the old alliance of the three, and if need be, we will abandon it," she said this part firmly, "From now on, you two will be my friends. I will trust you, and I expect you to do the same for me. But I want you to know, that I will always put Chimaki-nee first, even above my own life. Are we in, as a team?"_

"_A team!" Ichida echoed, placing her hand on top of Suki's._

"_A team," Tsubaki replied with a nod, letting her hand rest on theirs. _

_Fate sealed. Forever. _


	25. 25 True Strength Tested

S-S: I do not own InuYasha.

* * *

This was it.

This was going to be the last thing that Naraku ever saw. And InuYasha was going to make certain of that. Five hundred years of thinking that the world had been rid of the foul demon and that the price for such a world had been too high. Five hundred years of hating himself, blaming himself for Kagome's death, pleading with his mind and memories to try and see if there had been any way to stop what had happened on that fateful day. Five hundred years of dedicating himself to protecting humans, making himself as strong as he needed to be so that he would never have to lose someone ever again. Five hundred years of regret.

After all that time, all that anger that InuYasha had thrown at the world, he would finally have his revenge. No. Not revenge. This wasn't that petty. This was justice. Justice was what would bring Naraku down, that was what would finally kill the bastard who had killed those that he cared about. InuYasha had waited for this for a long time. Time for Naraku to meet justice.

InuYasha's mind whirled through the skills that he knew, the techniques that he had mastered over the years. Which would be the perfect one to bring Naraku down?

The bastard still held that look of confidence, still appeared just as calm as ever, still planning ahead of every step that InuYasha could ever make and finding ways to win. Naraku was a thinker, a strategist, and a coward. InuYasha was none of those. His plans were made up on the fly, instant split-second decisions in the heat of battle that hadn't been thought of at all before that second. Was that his real advantage? Not his skill or strength, although that was part of it. Was what kept him alive simply the fact that Naraku never knew what move InuYasha was going to make until he made it? That was rather elegant, in its own way.

There was the heavy feel of the Tetsusaiga in his hands, the hum and heartbeat of the sword that he had learned to match his own heartbeat to. His blade was soaked in the blood of a thousand demons, each one more evil than the last, and each one leaving their skills behind for InuYasha to use. Five hundred years preparing for this. Now how to kill Naraku?

In pausing to think, InuYasha made his first mistake. Naraku's arms suddenly became wooden, and thick roots pierced the floor of the room, ripping up the ground. The roots twisted beneath the earth, spikes shooting out to hit InuYasha from all directions.

The hanyou flipped into the air to avoid the attacks, cursing under his breath at his lack in speed and his foolishness. Being airborne while Naraku was still in control of the terrain was one of the worst things that he could have done, still infinitely more preferable to being impaled however. InuYasha sliced away at the root that tried to spear him from behind, turning around to cut another hunk of earth in two.

"You can't dodge forever!" Naraku cried furiously. It seemed that both of them wanted to end this.

But still, InuYasha frowned, Naraku was right. Not only couldn't he keep on dodging, but it simply wasn't his style. InuYasha landed on one of the roots and used it to push himself off, throwing himself at the floor. He landed gracefully and crouched down, slamming the blade of the Tetsusaiga into the earth, "Senjinnotani!"

In an instant, it seemed as if the rest of the world rose around InuYasha. In reality, a circle of earth surrounding the Tetsusaiga fell down into the earth a few feet, creating a protective circle of rock around the hanyou. At the same exact time, huge spikes of stone and rock exploded out from InuYasha's position, pillars sharpened to a deadly tip shooting out and impaling themselves into the walls and successfully pining down Naraku's roots.

Naraku frowned, his lips twitching impatiently, waiting for InuYasha to let his guard down. And to his extreme annoyance, Naraku had never seen that last attack before, which could only mean one very unfortunate, aggravating, _troublesome_ thing. That foolish hanyou hadn't been lying when he claimed to have improved.

There was a flash of silver in the corner of Naraku's eye and then the clash of steel. Naraku had thrown up his shield just in time, the split second of warning that he had before InuYasha struck had been the moment that he needed to throw up a defense. Damn that hanyou.

"Why fight so hard InuYasha?" Naraku said, stepping backwards to gain distance, "You of all people should know that those who get in my way tend to end up dead."

InuYasha snarled as he swung his blade once more, the anger overtaking that bit of common sense that told him his lade – fine as it was – would do naught to scratch the shield, "You really are a sick bastard, Naraku! Everything that you've done, all those horrible acts, you don't regret it do you?"

With blinding speed, Naraku moved an inch to the side, letting the Tetsusaiga pass by him like a harmless toy, "Of course I don't," he retorted, "Did you really think that I had?"

"I held hope," InuYasha spat, "That there was some part of you that could still be saved after I remove you from this world. Because unlike you," he yanked the sword out of the ground and turned to face his advisory once more, "I like to believe that there is still good in this world."

Naraku snorted, "I shall say that I am indeed glad I never held such foolhardy hopes," he glared at InuYasha, crimson burning into amber like fire, the hate between the two of them almost tangible, "But what you have to ask yourself is, what does that hope say about you?"

"Actually," InuYasha retorted, stepping his foot backwards like preparing to run, "There's a far better question to ask."

And then, with unimaginable speed, like a phantom, InuYasha was suddenly inside the shield, right next to Naraku, "Do you honestly think that your shield will still work on me?" he asked, his voice little more than a taunting whisper. There was no need to be louder. Naraku was right there.

The he swung his blade.

The shield flickered out of existence, having done little or defense and having untimely failed entirely to serve any purpose. Naraku's red eyes were wide with fear or shock or surprise or hatred. He had failed. His body was severed in half, a line right across his chest. Right where his heart was.

"It's over Naraku," InuYasha said tiredly, letting his sword scrape the ground, too tired to lift it properly anymore. It was over. It was done. He had finally finished this, finally won the long battle against the worst enemy of them all. There would be no more fighting, no more battles, because the war had been won. The long war was finally over, and the most dedicated soldier of them all was desperate to lay down arms and stop.

Sighing, feeling his limbs begging to shake and relax, InuYasha sheathed his sword. He stumbled backwards, overwhelmed by how tired he turned out to be. He turned and walked towards the door, thinking only of finding Kagome now. His final attack had taken a lot out of him, not a move that he used often or cared to even use at all. It was a finishing move, one that worked only once. It was the Kokuei, a single move, a single step that would carry him to his opponent, no matter of distance or barrier. The original wielder had been the first since Naraku to come close to killing InuYasha, and that single technique had been pricey to learn. But in InuYasha's mind, it had been worth it.

Because Naraku was at last, after so damn long, he was finally dead-

"Disappointing."

InuYasha gasped, his hand on the handle of his blade, ready to turn and fight again because his instincts told him to fight the owner of that voice, even though his mind told him that it was impossible. Naraku had been dead. InuYasha had seem him fall. Afraid of what he would see, InuYasha slowly turned around to face Naraku.

Naraku was standing, on his feet, the two halves of his body stitching themselves back together. His physical body looked as insubstantial as smoke, changing at will to wrap the bits of demon and human into the form that was Naraku. "Really InuYasha," Naraku said, almost like a laugh, as his torso reformed, "I would have expected better of you."

"How?" InuYasha demanded, withdrawing the Tetsusaiga once again, "How are you still alive!? How is this possible!? I cut your heart, you should be dead!"

There was simply another chuckle. Naraku experimentally tilted his head to each side. His neck cracked. "Had you actually cut my heart, yes," he said, like berating a small child, "But you, InuYasha, never even managed to touch my heart. Not a single scratch. I told you that I had changed over the three years that I had been absent. And here I learned this easy little trick," he turned to InuYasha, "You can't kill me."

"What the hell nonsense are you spouting!?" InuYasha screamed at him, the furry and the anger overwhelming him. How was this possible?! How could he have failed again? How could he have _let _himself fail? There had to be a way, there always had to be a way to kill Naraku, InuYasha knew this. Because if there wasn't a way to kill Naraku then there seemed to be no point in anything anymore, not even living. Naraku took anything and turned it to poison. Naraku had to die.

"My heart," Naraku said simply, "Such a precious little thing. Imagine how such a simple organ can do so much for a person," he smirked at the hanyou, "Remember precious Kagura? Of course you do, as I heard it, she's your sister-in-law now. All her talk about being the wind, and being free, her endless and pointless quest for her 'freedom'. So easy to break her. All I had to do was get her heart," Naraku's gaze grew more intense and angry, "That's all you ever have to do. Once you have the heart, then the person will follow as you command."

InuYasha stepped towards Naraku, his knuckles white from the tight grip he had on the handle of his sword, "Tell. Me. What. You. Did," he demanded slowly.

"Of course," Naraku continued, "My heart does nothing for me anymore. I do not need it to feel or to breathe. But for some reason, I can never fully get rid of it. I have tried of course, you remember, surely, my many attempts to remove my heart from the rest of my body. None had… the desired results," he frowned at this, "So I tried something different. Since my heart is now almost pointless, I concluded that it need no remain in my chest as per tradition. I learned to move my heart around my body."

InuYasha's eyes flickered wide for a moment before his tight gaze returned, "You can relocate your heart at will? You truly are a monster." But this meant that…

Naraku shrugged, "I don't care. But this means one thing for you InuYasha," he smirked, "I cannot be cut, slashed, or stabbed to death. Wherever you cut, I will simply move my heart out of the way. And one day, one day soon, I will move it out of my body forever, and it will become completely pointless. Then, I will be immortal."

"There is no such thing," InuYasha said scathingly, "As immortality."

He paced around Naraku, his eyes burning, "I should know. I've died once," InuYasha continued, because these words needed to be said, and he wanted poison to spit at Naraku, "Remember?" he asked, throwing Naraku's words back at him, "You killed me once before, so many years ago. That was when I learned, _truly learned_, that immortality was just some stupid dream. Everyone and everything dies Naraku! It's just a question of when."

"Then my 'when'," Naraku replied spitefully, "will be 'never'. You have not what it takes to transcend mortality, you are too weak for such a thing. I never held your weakness, it has long been purged from me. Whereas you, you cling to your weaknesses. You protect them. You weaken yourself because you refuse to let that which is weak die. Like that _pathetic _miko girl."

It was InuYasha's turn to laugh, a deep chuckle full of amusement and fury, "Kagome ain't weak," he said simply, "You will learn that."

That wasn't a threat, that was his promise.

He would make sure that Naraku knew of his strength, Kagome's strength, and he would make sure that it would be the last thing Naraku ever knew. Kill Naraku, kill Naraku. It was the mantra in his mind, the thought that kept him going. For five hundred years, when he had believed Kagome dead, he had struggled to find a reason to live, a reason to stay sane. He had found a reason then, a burning desire to bring justice to scum like Naraku. But now, his mind had locked on to the old enemy. This was his new reason for living. Kill Naraku. Keep Kagome safe.

"You won't kill me," Naraku said determinedly, "You do not have what it takes, you will never have what it takes. You are limited by the weakness that is love. You love Kagome, and so you desire to protect her. And in doing so, you weaken yourself. That is why you will never bring me down."

InuYasha twitched, desperate to swing his blade again and prove just how mortal Naraku was, "You are still wrong," he said, "Kagome isn't what makes me weak. She's what makes me strong."_And that's why I will win._

In a flash, InuYasha raised his blade and lunged at Naraku. _This is it,_ he thought, _it all ends here Naraku_.

Naraku stepped backwards, knowing that this wouldn't matter. Getting hit was no longer an issue.

_Clang!_

Steel on steel.

A plate of metal blocked InuYasha's blade.

"What-?" InuYasha gasped, surprised. He lowered his blade and stepped backwards, knowing why he saw what he saw, but still not believing it.

Tsubaki's arm twitched, and the plate of steel melted until it reformed as a small metal wristband. She stood, like a new shield for Naraku, another person to manipulate, "Run InuYasha," she said calmly, her voice as ice cold as her pale skin, "You are outnumbered. Your chances of winning this battle have now decreased. You are at a severe disadvantage."

The unspoken words '_Go to Kagome'_ passed from Tsubaki to InuYasha in a single look.

There was nothing more that he could do.

InuYasha ran.

* * *

S-S: Okay! If any of you want the translations for InuYasha's new attacks, here they are;

Senjinnotani: bottomless ravine

Kokuei: dark shadow


	26. 26 Run, Here Come the Monsters

S-S: One hundred reviews! YEAH! YAY! WHOOHOO!

Uh... Still don't own InuYasha though. Damn.

* * *

There was nothing to be done.

Things in life happened, and there was no way to turn back time and try to fix things. The only way out was forward. Suki felt that it was time to realize this. She could cry all she wanted to, but it wouldn't make Chimaki better, and making Chimaki better was the only thing that Suki really had to do and was the only thing that still tied her to her life. Naraku was gone. He had gone to find Ichida and Kagome, and Suki knew why, or at least a part of her could guess why, but that wasn't important because all it meant to Suki was that Naraku was gone and would stay gone for a long while.

That was good. She needed all the time that she could get- or more accurately perhaps, _he _needed all the time that he could get.

The doctor was the best in all of Japan, or so they said. Suki had taken great pains to get in contact with him so quickly, perhaps her most notable attempt had been breaking into his house less than an hour ago and threatening to kill him unless he did exactly what she said. But she didn't care about how 'wrong' that was or whatever, if she had wanted a lecture on morality then she would have gone somewhere else. Her way got things done quickly. She had time and she had a hurt sister, therefore she needed a doctor.

Out of all of the few choices she had – being a doctor not the most popular profession in the demonic world – this was a very good doctor to pick. The thin old man, currently hunched over Chimaki's unconscious form, was a walking surgical theater with his x-ray eyes. Because he could see through skin and bone with ease, he was an extremely talented surgeon, and even more fortunately for Suki, not extremely talented at fighting. Hence, easier to threaten and abduct. There was still the faint smell of blood in the room from the operation, and although he had assured her that Chimaki was completely under from drugs and couldn't feel a thing and he was almost finished anyways, Suki was still worried.

"Are you almost done?" she barked, watching cautiously over his shoulder, keeping a very close eye on the shiny and sharp scalpel that he held in his hands.

The doctor – she hadn't bothered to learn a name – twitched as she spoke, "Y-Yes, I just remove the venom, then I need to stitch up the incision and… well then you just need to wait for her to wake up," he replied nervously, his hand reaching into a medical bag to fetch a needle.

Chimaki was lying the bed, her hands pinned to her sides and an IV hooked up to her arm, supplying her blood with a steady flow of some cocktail of medical narcotics and sedatives. Her eyes didn't flicker beneath her eyelids as they would if she were asleep, she was still, completely still and still worried Suki. But Suki's eyes were fixed entirely on the small cut on her sister's stomach. The doctor had said that Chimaki's blood flow had been stopped and that she would gain no serious or lasting injuries from the procedure. But still, it was difficult not to flinch as he pried skin and red flesh open, fishing around in her gut, searching for something tiny and hardly visible.

"Your eyes had better be pin-point accurate in that little x-ray feature of theirs. If you end up breaking that venom sac and killing her, then-" Suki warned, her body shaking.

"Don't worry," he said, "I've almost got the sac out, just- Ah!" his grip firm on the tweezers, he pulled something out of Chimaki's stomach. Something small, red, and covered in blood. Oh, Suki thought vaguely. All that red must be Chimaki's blood. The doctor placed the small object on a clear plastic tray and dropped the tweezers back into his bag.

Suki glanced at the small red thing on the tray before turning her eyes back to her sister, "Is that it?" she asked, "Is that the poison?"

He nodded, beginning to thread a blue plastic thread through a thin metal needle, "That's all of it," he confirmed, carefully stitching up Chimaki's side. He tied off the thread and stepped back, wiping his sweat covered forehead. "There was something strange about her though," he said, perplexed, "There's something sealed inside her, a powerful compression spell, like nothing I've ever seen before."

_That damn bastard_. It was the sword, how could it not be. Because Naraku just couldn't let Suki fix her sister all the way, he just _had_ to come along right before things could get better and make Chimaki worse again. "Don't mind it. It's nothing," Suki ordered shortly. She didn't want this doctor prying, it would make cleaning up the mess worse than it already would be, "Are you finished?"

"Yes, just give her plenty of rest and don't expect her to wake up for at least a day later. Because she's a demon, the medication should wear off faster than it would on a human, but it should still be enough to keep her under for a while longer," he explained, "And make sure that the cut doesn't get infected, so keep it clean and sterilize it with alcohol." He unhooked the IV and started to pack up his medical bag.

Suki bowed to him, "Thank you."

And she was thankful. Truly and surely she was thankful. Without this stranger's help, she would still be tied to Naraku by the iron thread of her sister's imprisonment. And now, the two of them were free. Thank you Kagome, even if that plan of theirs hadn't worked or had worked, it still had created this little pocket of opportunity when Suki knew that Naraku's concentration would be focused completely on Kagome, and not looking or even noticing what Suki was doing. And she was going to make use of every second.

Crude as it may have been, abducting the surgeon had been the first thing on her list. Now all that there was left to do was clean up, help Chimaki to the car, and run, never looking back, never returning, never letting Naraku get another foothold of influence on either of them, ever again.

"Now are you going to let me go?"

Speaking of clean up… Suki turned to the doctor, her hand already beginning to burn.

_Sorry. Just the way it is._

* * *

"Well well," Naraku said calmly, observing Tsubaki through thin eyes, wondering what could possibly be going through her head at this moment. He had believed her to be loyal to Suki – a stupid but regrettably powerful girl who was probably sobbing her eyes out over her precious sister who was little more than asleep while her living vassal fought and put their life on the line. Was it perhaps possible, that the Higure had sent the Yozeme to his aid?

No, that thought was foolish. He held no delusions of loyalty from _her_, there was no doubt that she would only be too happy to see him dead. So then, was the Yozeme acting on her own? Yes, that did seem like the mostly likely of all the possibilities, but why would she arrive to assist him? It didn't make sense.

Tsubaki sunk into a bow, "My apologies for being so late, Naraku-sama. I had intended to arrive here earlier, but I had to find where the Kyoushin had gone beforehand." Her voice was sincere, and there was naught but the cold he expected to hear from her, no hints of deception or lies.

"And why are you here?" he asked, his tone icy, "Did the Higure girl send you? She should know that I do not require her assistance."

Tsubaki raised her head, looking him in the eyes with an honesty that Naraku had not expected, "I came of my own free will. When Ichida informed me of her betrayal, she asked also that I find and kill you. I did not."

What was this? The Kyoushin had planned to take him out even after she left? Or was this all a carefully fabricated lie? And yet, it did not seem so. These three demons worked together with the pretense of friendship, nothing more than a slightly more valued form of comrades, and yet Naraku knew that deep down, while he knew that Suki's weakness was her sister, her also knew that the other two were not attached to the sick child. Of course, a ninja like the Yozeme girl would have no such delusions of this 'bond' that they spoke of. But both were weaker by far than the Higure girl, and they must know this. Had the Yozeme simply been waiting for the right time to break away, when the Higure girl had been too distracted by the other betray to properly retaliate?

"Why did you turn down such a promising _business deal_?" Naraku inquired snidely. He held all the cards here, no matter what she might think. And it was going to be him who discovered exactly what she was thinking, even if she thought she could keep her thoughts closed. No one held secrets from Naraku. He practically owned secrets.

"Because I don't want anything to do with those three anymore," Tsubaki replied, mildly surprising him once again, "Ichida made her choice recently, and Suki made hers long ago. I am perfectly willing to betray them and help you. For a price of course."

Now things were beginning to make sense. There was something that she desired. Of course there was a cost, that was how her people worked. Ninja were hired to do dirty jobs so long as they got paid. Why had he thought that it would be any different with this child? Now the only question that was left was the simple matter of her asking price. "I see. You had a deal in already mind when you decided that it would be a good time to turn on your companions."

"Yes," Tsubaki confirmed, "My price is simple. The shards of the Fuyoheki. When this is over and done, I want to keep mine. Up until the time when you decide that you no longer need my help, I will work for you. So long as I get that shard."

Naraku let his eyes glaze over her while he thought. "And why would you desire the Fuyoheki?" he inquired.

Tsubaki replied simply, "As a weapon. In my profession, I do require the element of surprise, and unfortunately, some targets are extremely talented at sensing demonic auras or scents. There would be nothing more uniquely useful to me than an object which could rid me of those two hindrances."

He had to admit, he had not thought of using the Fuyoheki for any purpose besides hiding. Perhaps it was good to get new ideas, even if they did come from the mouth of the enemy. "And that would be the _only_ thing that you ask me for?" he went over, smoothing out the details of this most promising deal.

She nodded, "That, and I don't want to be constantly at your beck and call after this is over. I will go my own way, and will make you a different offer at a different time if the situation calls for it. I just want the Fuyoheki."

"You've planned this perfectly, haven't you?" Naraku asked, as if mocking her, "The deal, your timing, even your dramatic appearance – you've been meaning to make a break for a while now, no? And let me guess, the little stint that the Kyoushin provided was the perfect opportunity for you to make your leave without that Higure following after you. Aren't you clever." That had been neither a question, nor a comment, "All right then. We have a deal."

Tsubaki bowed again, and then held out her hand, "We have a deal."

Naraku slowly touched the palm of her hand, as if to shake on it. He smirked, "Now, I won't have you running off on me like your friend."

That was who he was. He learned from his mistakes. And that old crocodile demon in the outback and left him with more than just that powerful sword, no there had been one other ability that Naraku had sought as a prize. He grasped Tsubaki's hand tightly and yanked her up to face him straight on, staring into her eyes.

Hypnosis.

Her shocked eyes flickered and blanked out until they were dull of life. What a perfect ability.

Naraku let her go, "Don't worry. I'll fulfill my part of the deal. Call this collateral."

But it didn't really make any difference, those words. Tsubaki wasn't conscious enough to hear or understand anything but orders.

* * *

"It's horrible timing, I know. But I didn't know until just a few days ago, and it's only been three and a half months, way before this whole mess with Naraku, so it's not like I've been avoiding telling you, really," Kagura twisted her gold wedding band around her finger, a particular nervous habit that she had had for far too long but she could never seem to drop. She just kept twisting her ring round and round as she talked. "I'm not sure, is it a good thing or… a bad thing... or just something…?" she asked, her voice more twitchy than normal. She knew that her voice sounded off, but there was simply nothing that she could or would do to correct it, and just let the twitchy nervous tone slide because she was too focused on other and more important matters.

"A good thing, Kagura. Of course this is a good thing," Sesshomaru replied, his voice reassuring.

Kagura sighed and smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder and allowing herself these precious moments of relaxation and contentment. Times like these reminded her why she had gotten married in the first place. After Naraku had been vanished, Kagura had drifted, seeing the world from the view of one who wasn't attached to it and didn't care about the people in it. It took her a long time to realize that her desired freedom hadn't been the life of a wanderer, and that realization had occurred at around the same time that she happened to run into Sesshomaru. He kept her grounded, focused, not drifting, and how could she not love him?

BANG!

The front door was slammed open furiously and then slammed back shut as three people staggered inside.

InuYasha looked furious, about ready to kill someone right then and there with his bare hands if he had to. Leaning against him was a shocked Kagome, the girl shaken and disoriented. Then there was the third person, a girl with messy orange hair and green eyes, her hands covered in red and orange fur with sharp claws. That must be Kyoushin Ichida, the girl who worked with the Higure.

Kagura caught sight of the vicious slash on Ichida's face and hurried to the freezer to grab an ice pack. What the hell had happened? Kagome explained that plan of hers and it had sounded simple, yes a little room for complications, but they looked as though Naraku himself had shown up, InuYasha especially. She pressed the cold pack into Ichida's hands, who gave her a faint and half-hearted smile before pressing the ice welcomingly against her face.

"What happened?" Sesshomaru demanded, calm as usual, but there was stress in there as well, stress and even a little bit of fear.

InuYasha glared at the floor and helped Kagome sit down on a nearby chair before he said anything, "It was Naraku," he hissed, "The damn bastard showed up!" The waves of anger rolled off of him in tangible sheets of hate, making Ichida shudder and flinch away. "Kagome has the jewel, and he's… he's going after it again.

Oh no. Naraku. He was back.

The nightmare had returned.

Kagura's worst nightmare, the one that would lock her in the worst sort of fear, not the kind where she screamed before she woke up, but the kind that froze her as she slept on. Naraku was definitely back, and he was after the jewel. The jewel. Which happened to be right across the room from Kagura, and she knew that Naraku would have absolutely no qualms with killing her as well before moving on. He might even go a bit out of his way to kill her. She doubted that Naraku was exactly pleased about her betraying him.

It just couldn't be possible, he just couldn't be back. "No…" she gasped, stumbling backwards away from InuYasha as if distancing herself from the truth might make it any less real. "Naraku can't be… back…"

InuYasha seethed, "It's real alright. He's back, and he's going to keep coming after the jewel, just like what that bastard did before-" he glanced up at Kagura and even he knew that the fear on her face wasn't normal, "Kagura? What's up?" he looked from his brother and back to her, as if trying to see the answer on their faces.

Naraku was back. He just couldn't be, not now, not off all the times to return, he just had to return now, because "I'm pregnant."


	27. 27 The Asleep Assassin

S-S: I have bad news. My best friend, the person that I love most in the world, Jeff, died. What does this mean? I'll have to get a new computer. I think I'll call the next one Sebastian. XD

BTW: everything that Tsubaki told Naraku in the last chapter was a lie, kinda obviously, but I thought I should clarify.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

InuYasha paled, "What." He deadpanned, like he couldn't believe his ears.

It occurred to Ichida that perhaps he thought he had misheard, but her ears were working perfectly fine. "Congratulations!" she squealed, giving Kagura a light hug around the shoulders, "How far along are you?" Kagura looked too tense, and Ichida knew that stress was not the best thing at all for a pregnant woman, so she was trying to set her fears to rest.

Kagura relaxed a bit, and a hesitant smile crept onto her face, "Three and a half months. I'm not showing yet," she turned to Sesshomaru with a look of desperate confidence on her face, not really sure what she was asking but sure that she wanted her request, "I want to stay and fight," she pleaded, "If I can, I want to help."

"No," he said firmly, surprising the others in the room, "You are not going to fight Naraku. I am going to make sure that you stay safe. Kagura," he said as a warning when she looked ready to protest, "Trust me on this, and _stay out_ of the fighting."

She stepped up to him, her eyes looking teary, "I want to fight Naraku! This is my battle too, and I want to see him loose just as much as you or InuYasha or Ichida-san or Kagome! I haven't forgotten what he did to me and I want to see him pay! I can fight as well as anyone, you know that! I want to fight and don't you dare blame this on my hormones!" The request was hard to honor because by the end of this outburst, she was practically in tears.

"Kagura," Sesshomaru said calmly, pulling his tearful wife into a hug as she began to sob, "Listen, you have to go somewhere safe. When this is over, I'll come and find you. Just stay safe."

"No!" she cried, "I don't want to leave! You're not running, why should I?!" She didn't want to leave him, she wouldn't leave her husband! How could Sesshomaru not notice how much she wanted vengeance against Naraku, for everything that he had done to her? Or perhaps, she thought, Sesshomaru _did _notice and that was exactly why he wasn't letting her fight. Kagura wanted to kill Naraku, but she didn't know if she would risk her child for that chance. There was the desire to fight, burning inside of her, the little mantra in the back of her head that told her rightly that Naraku needed to pay for everything that he had done and that Kagura should be the one to deliver the killing blow.

Before Kagura had found out that she was pregnant, she hadn't thought that Naraku was any real danger. The demon had just been a phantom specter haunting the edge of her conscious, someone that she knew was out there, but not someone who was any real or immediate threat. If only InuYasha hadn't burst into the room and told them of Naraku's true return. If only that damn Naraku had stayed dead. If only he had let Kagura have her freedom all those hundreds of years ago instead of trying to kill her off. The 'if onlys' were piling up in her head, and they all meant nothing because they were nothing more than wishful thinking that was of no use to anyone.

"I won't leave you…" Kagura sobbed quietly, clinging onto Sesshomaru desperately because she was honestly afraid that everyone was going to disappear. That was what had happened with their allies from the feudal area, that was what had happened to her sister Kanna, that was what had happened to almost everybody.

She felt Sesshomaru sigh, feeling the way his chest moved before she heard him. "Then I'll go with you," he said.

Kagura tilted her head up so that she could look at him, surprised that he could even suggest such a thing. Hadn't he wanted to kill Naraku just as badly as her? Why was he doing this, turning down a chance to get revenge on their worst enemy, just so that he could go somewhere safe with Kagura? "You would do that…? For me?" she asked, hoping that he had honestly said that and it wasn't just her imagination.

"I said I would," he replied, "I wasn't lying."

So he was really going to go with her? Really, truly? Kagura let a small smile creep onto her face as she released Sesshomaru from her hug, "Thank you…" she murmured.

"Okay okay okay," InuYasha looked utterly confused, "What the heck is going on?" He had this expression on his face of complete and total disbelief mixed in with a dash of sheer bewilderment.

"Kagura and I are leaving," Sesshomaru said to his brother, "We are going somewhere safe, where she won't be hurt and where Naraku won't find us," he gave InuYasha a stern look, "Imouto, you _must_ kill Naraku."

This, InuYasha could understand. He wasn't one for subtlety and tact, but he could understand the order to kill, especially when he knew why, "Yeah, don't worry," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'll get rid of the bastard," his face went a little bit red, "Kagura, stay… safe… okay? I… I mean… it might be cool to be an uncle…" he muttered, before turning away, as if ashamed to show that he actually valued his family.

Kagura smiled teasingly, "Awww, you really do care!"

Still a little dazed, still a little confused, Kagome was slowly sorting out her mind. It was tiring, because all she really wanted to do was forget everything again, but she had to keep reminding herself to be strong and to not give in and what would InuYasha say if he knew she gave up. There were a thousand different emotions flickering through her mind at the moment, each one competing for her undivided attention. She was as focused as she could be on the matter at hand, but there was a difference between focused and participating in the conversation. Conversation was something she wasn't sure she could attempt yet, her mind still too chaotic to think properly in that way.

In her mind, the voices were still screaming at her, giving her commands that varied between running away and forgetting. There were warnings as well, warnings about Naraku and the hell that he could cause and even advice mixed in, taking the form of memories that vaguely hinted at his past fighting methods, hints that were occasionally too jumbled for Kagome to sort out. But she just kept thinking and categorizing things, trying to wrap her mind up into a state of focus that would allow her to regain some semblance of sanity and normality.

Then Kagome saw something that both did and didn't make sense. Her eyes caught the flicker of movement like a well trained prey animal, but it took a while for the sight to be processed in her head. She had seen something like that before, something that had happened a while and yet not-so-long-ago, something that had made her defenseless. No, not defenseless, that hadn't been the word. Weaponless?

Then the iron poker by the fireplace twitched again.

Kagome remembered where she had seen that kind of twitching before.

But that wasn't possible. Under their deal, this shouldn't be happening. Wasn't the plan to make Naraku think that Tsubaki was working for him? She wasn't actually working for the bastard, was she? No, she couldn't be, that would go against everything that Kagome knew about Tsubaki. So then why was the poker still twitching? It was made of metal, so that clicked in Kagome's mind, but the 'why's' were still all mixed up.

"I-InuYasha…" Kagome muttered, her eyes frowning at the poker, "It's twitching."

The hanyou turned to her, confusion and surprise evident on his face, as if wondering what she was talking about. Kagome raised an unsteady finger to point at the poker.

The poker flickered again, the point suddenly much sharper. It flew towards InuYasha's head with the blinding speed of a missile. InuYasha leapt back and raised a clawed hand to swipe at it and push the metal spear out of the way. It fell to the ground with a clatter, useless.

"What the hell?!" InuYasha yelled, "That was the Yozeme's power! How-!? Why-?! I thought that she was on our side?!" he looked furious, ready to burst out into a flame of anger in a second, all triggered by the thought of betrayal.

Sesshomaru demanded, "What's going on?"

That was a good question. One that Kagome didn't quite have an answer to. "It's like what Tsubaki can do," she said uncertainly, "She can… can control metal, she did that with my arrows once. There was the plan," there had been a plan, a very important plan, hadn't there? "Tsubaki was supposed to pretend to be on Naraku's side. But she… she wouldn't _actually _try to hurt us. At least, I don't think that she would." She couldn't. Because doing so would go against everything that Kagome knew about her friend.

Outraged, InuYasha yelled, "But then this doesn't-!"

He froze in pain, and no words came from his mouth. Only bright red blood trickled down the corner of his lip.

The poker was protruding from his back.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried, snapping back to full attention with a jolt of adrenaline and fear. She leapt from her seat and hurried over to InuYasha, her hands fumbling to reach the poker and pull it out from his chest.

The hanyou swore violently and reached his hand behind him, grasping the poker with all the dexterity of a blind man, letting Kagome's hand guide him to the metal rod. As he slowly began to pull the metal out, he gritted his teeth from what must be unbearable pain. Once the bloodied metal was removed from his body, he threw it into the fire place, letting the flames hiss and spit and consume the poker.

InuYasha tilted and leaned against the wall for support, breathing heavily, "Looks like the Yozeme really did turn on us," he muttered, amber eyes burning with fury, "And now what?! She's trying to kill us!" He reached to his side, fingers grasping at the handle of the Tetsusaiga, ready to swing the blade as soon as Tsubaki showed herself.

Kagura looked anxious, her fingers nervously grasping at the hem of her sleeve, clearly panicked, "Sesshomaru…" she said worriedly, giving her husband a look, "We should leave. Now."

* * *

There was Tsubaki and there was Tsubaki. There were two people in the same body. One was asleep. The other was active.

For some reason, the sleeping one was more Tsubaki than the one that was awake. The awake Tsubaki was little more than a blur of imposed thoughts and forced commands, like someone had tried to take only a few bits of Tsubaki and make them do their bidding. The awake one had only one order going through her mind at the moment, to assassinate InuYasha. Those had been the orders. Kill InuYasha. There were others in the house, she knew that and she could sense them. InuYasha was the only one that Master Naraku had mentioned.

Master Naraku commanded the awake Tsubaki. He told her what to do and what not to do and all she had to do was follow every order that he gave her without fail. The sleeping Tsubaki would have fought to the death against Master Naraku's command. That was why she was asleep. If the awake Tsubaki ever was to go to sleep, then the one sleeping right now would wake up. But that wouldn't happen. Because Tsubaki lived to serve Master Naraku and he hadn't given her orders to sleep.

Tsubaki couldn't see what was happening inside the house, but she could sense the auras of each and every person inside except one. There was the flare of Sesshomaru and Kagura, flares that she ignored. There was the bright glow of Kagome's miko power, that Tsubaki had been told to be wary of. And there was the bright glow of InuYasha. That one was her target. But she knew that there was as fifth person inside, one that she couldn't sense or smell because the fifth one held the same power of un-detectability that Tsubaki had. For some reason, the fifth person was the one that Tsubaki was most aware of. She knew that person for some reason, and she was grateful – or at least the asleep Tsubaki was – that she did not have any order to harm the fifth person.

Tsubaki reached into her pocket for the tiny balls of metal that she employed as weapons. It seemed that her ambush had failed. Shame.

She only ever carried a very small amount of metal on her person, because part of her power allowed her to increase any amount of metal. So long as there was a tiny piece of metal to begin with, she could make as much of it as she needed.

Her cold fingers delicately selected a smooth ball of steel, rolling the icy metal between her finger tips as she considered the possibilities of how to finish her assigned mission. She couldn't fail Master Naraku.

Her planning froze for a moment, and she flattened herself against the metal gate, peering a single black eye out to observe. A car was leaving, speeding away from the house. It didn't hold the flame of InuYasha, no, this was Sesshomaru and Kagura. They were leaving? For some reason that she couldn't name the source of, she had assumed that the two would stay with InuYasha and Kagome. Weren't they comrades? Family? Was there a reason? But then the awake Tsubaki fully took control again and the questions vanished. They did not matter. The only target was InuYasha.

As soon as the car was gone, Tsubaki slowly stepped out from behind the metal gate. It was tricky to walk, she noticed. Walking required conscious thought and was more like a drunken stumble, she teetered and swayed in a way that she shouldn't have. Controlling her body was difficult because the asleep Tsubaki didn't want to follow Master Naraku's will.

She staggered up the gravel path to the large house, the metal ball in her hand growing and twisting until she was holding a gleaming blade in her hand.

Time to follow Master Naraku's orders.


	28. 28 Uncaring Eyes

S-S: I don't own InuYasha… still…

* * *

Why.

Why. Why. Why. Why.

Why the hell was Tsubaki doing this? Ichida felt her own head about to burst from the fear that her friend had betrayed her and Suki and Chimaki for no good reason. Unless there was a good reason, in which case she could try to bargain and plead and get down on her knees and beg her friend to stop this. Of course, her mind was automatically jumping around this, thinking that maybe there was a chance that someone else was using the exact same methods of assassination as Tsubaki or that maybe there was by some miraculous chance another Yozeme still alive, because everything in Ichida was screaming that Tsubaki could not have possibly betrayed them.

It simply didn't make sense. Why would Tsubaki do this? There was no reason this, none at all unless Ichida had suddenly become blind.

A movement caught the attention of her bright lamp-like eyes and her hand suddenly was on top of InuYasha's. The hanyou had been attempting to draw his sword. "Don't, InuYasha," Ichida said tearfully, "Let me take care of her. Please. I might… I might be able to reason with her or ask her why or…" she breathed in deeply and tried to calm herself, "Don't kill her, not my friend, please just let me try!"

InuYasha let go of the Tetsusaiga's handle, "You have one try, if you can't get her to stop, then I'll stop her for you."

Thank you. Ichida still had a chance to try and save Tsubaki. "Thanks!" she said, attempting a smile. She turned to her other friend, "Kagome," she said softly, "Make sure that InuYasha or yourself don't get cut up. Both of you, watch the other's backs. Tsubaki… she… tends to attack from where you won't see, And I'm not sure that I can distract her enough that she won't try again… if she… really is… trying..." It was a bad warning and she couldn't finish saying it, but it was all that she could give them.

"Ichida!" Kagome said, worried and confused, standing and rushing over to her friend, "You don't have to fight her! Let InuYasha-!"

Ichida shock her head with a smile and cut Kagome off. They just didn't understand this, that was all. As a friend, as an ally, as a comrade, it was Ichida's duty to stop Tsubaki and make sure that there was nothing wrong with her and that she was uninjured, "She's my friend," Ichida said simply, "Would you let one of your friends be hurt?"

The sadness on Kagome's face was all the answer that she needed, "I'll be back soon, I hope," Ichida said quietly, stepping out from behind Kagome and towards the door. It wasn't really a lie, she thought, as she was walked towards the large double doors that sealed her fate. She did hope to return soon, but she wasn't sure if she would return alive and with Tsubaki, or dead without her friend. She was going to do everything in her power to stop her friend. She just didn't know yet what 'everything' entailed.

She pushed open the door with ease, the dark red fur on her hand covering the shaking of her fingers, her claws digging into the wood of the door. Then she stepped outside and blinked for a second as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Her hand dropped lamely from the door and fell to her side, "Hello Tsubaki-chan," Ichida said, trying to attempt a smile.

There was her friend, standing on the huge circular gravel driveway. Ichida had been right, Tsubaki wasn't herself. There was something as to the way she held herself, her shoulder collapsed, her back slumping, her head held at a tilt, and her legs placed oddly on the ground, making her look more like a broken marionette doll than a living being. Her dark clothes blended into the night, but they were torn in a way that Tsubaki would never have allowed, like she had fallen to the ground more than once. A mane of black hair blew gently in the breeze, falling madly around her face, giving the impression of a madman.

Ichida couldn't see her eyes, but she was sure that if she could, they would not be the glittering black that she was used to. They would be dead. There was nothing that she knew of that could make Tsubaki look like this, dead, the girl was proud and took pride in her appearance, because appearance was everything in her line of work. The real Tsubaki wasn't here. But there was a knife, the smooth metal blade catching the light. So dead or not, this Tsubaki still had the same powers as the old one. That was bad, she supposed, although it meant that Ichida might just have an easier fight than she had previously thought. Tsubaki relied on her mind in fights, so a version of her that kept only physical capabilities was bound to be easier to beat.

She hated this. Ichida hated observing her friend as if she was an enemy, as if she was the bad guy. This had to stop. She would stop her friend, even if she had to beat her to an inch of death to make her wake up.

"You are…" Tsubaki said, her voice not right, like a broken recoding of what Tsubaki should have been, "Not… not… InuYasha." She frowned, "Inuyasha is the target."

So there was still a part of Tsubaki that didn't want to fight her friends. That was good to know. It meant that there was still a chance to save her. "No, I'm not InuYasha. But InuYasha is not the target," Ichida said as firmly as she could manage.

Tsubaki gave her an odd look, as though Ichida was not quite real or not all there, like Ichida was a delusion or a mirage or a phantom. But it wasn't enough, no it wasn't enough at all. Tsubaki did not stand down, did not let go of the knife, did not move at all.

"I'm sorry," Ichida whimpered, closing her eyes to stop the tears from falling. She had to save her friend.

In a blink of an eye, Ichida pushed off from the ground in a burst of strength, flinging herself through the air towards Tsubaki, her tight first raised to strike. She slammed her palm into the ground, missing Tsubaki by a millisecond as her friend flickered out of the way. The ground cracked and split like an earthquake beneath her hand, fault lines pushing into the ground to form a small crater. Ichida straightened up and looked at her friend who was standing completely unharmed less than a few feet away.

Ichida had barely used any speed, and positively no strength at all. So it was time to get serious.

She kicked off from the ground again, appearing right next to Tsubaki faster than anything. Tsubaki reacted with all the intelligence of a puppet, leaning her whole body to stab with the knife, looking like a dead creature. Ichida titled her head quickly to avoid the blade with ease, before sweeping her claws in an arc through Tsubaki's torso. Her fist met a shield of solid steel, Tsubaki holding onto the pan of metal with the odd look of someone who wasn't sure what they were doing.

Then the shield crumpled like paper beneath Ichida's fist, little match for her insane strength. Tsubaki was blown backwards, tumbling and rolling across the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust until she came to a stop, her head bent badly. Slowly, Tsubaki pushed herself up and off the ground, but with her elbow bent, like she wasn't sure why she had lost of why her body was injured.

Ichida flickered over to Tsubaki, leaned over, her hand in a fist, ready to strike her hand through Tsubaki's ribcage and end her life in one hit. And then Tsubaki looked up at her with blank eyes, completely unaware that her life was almost over. No. Not unaware.

Uncaring.

Tsubaki's eyes had been drained of life, blank and dull and flat and blurry, as if she wasn't conscious of what she was doing.

She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it. Ichida felt her hot wet tears roll down her face and fall onto Tsubaki's, tears that her friend could now not shed, although she was sure that if Tsubaki was conscious enough to cry, she would do so. Ichida's hand shock and trembled and she found her strength sapping away as her tears grew. She just couldn't do it.

She couldn't kill her friend, not when someone had already killed her.

Tsubaki blinked twice, her eyes glancing down to look at the tears that fell on her face. She knew as well that there was something wrong here, Ichida could see the confusion in her eyes, like there was still a little part of the real Tsubaki trapped in there. Ichida dropped her fist to her side, "I… Tsubaki…" she sobbed, "I'm so sorry! I couldn't kill you! I couldn't save you! I have failed you!"

And Tsubaki just stared at her.

"Feh. I knew that you couldn't do it."

Ichida turned her crying eyes to see InuYasha striding towards the two of them, his blade drawn and swung casually over his shoulder. It was strange to Ichida every time she saw the hanyou. How he could be so powerful but be so calm, acting like this was all some game that he was sure to win. There was something so carefree about him, and Ichida could see why he had gained so many allies in the war. His charisma would draw allies to him like flies to honey.

There was Kagome too, standing behind InuYasha like he was her shield from everything that was bad. She still looked a bit confused, but less so, as if she was cleaning away the mental cobwebs that had tangled from shock and surprise and fear. Her hand held a wooden bow, and they did not shake. Kagome was becoming stronger while Ichida stayed weak.

"I'm sorry," Ichida cried, "I couldn't do it." She hung her head, ashamed at her unforgivable weakness. When she had been weak as a child, her father had punished her for that weakness. It seemed as though Ichida would forever be weak, and no amount of reprimanding would change that.

To her surprise, InuYasha simply shrugged, "I didn't think that you could. But it seemed only fair to let you get your chance," he turned his amber eyes to the fallen Tsubaki, the girl simply lying in the dust, unaware – uncaring – of her surroundings, "So did you find out why she attacked us?"

Ichida didn't allow herself to glance back down at Tsubaki because if she did, she might do something really stupid like cry and hug her, "I'm not sure… she… she seems to be brainwashed or something. It's like she's not all there, not fully conscious."

InuYasha raised an eyebrow curiously, "Brainwashing, huh? Now I wonder who did that…" his voice held dark sarcasm, "Naraku doesn't have a spell or technique like this last time we fought. The only way he could manipulate memories was through the jewel shards or through his incarnations. This is more than this. Last time, Kohaku remembered. If she's tried to kill you, then there is something more going on here."

Kagome frowned and her eyes went glassy, diving into the pool of mental thought, "I have the whole jewel, and I can't detect any shards from Tsubaki. Is this something of Naraku's that is new?" she asked.

Ichida turned to InuYasha, "So then- InuYasha, what's wrong with Tsubaki!?"

Something slammed into the back of Ichida's leg, tugging and sweeping her to the ground with ruthless efficiency. Ichida's back hit the ground hard, her vision spinning as her head smacked against the gravel, the fall forcing out a gasp of pain. Tsubaki wasn't as out of it as they had thought.

Tsubaki rolled up into a crouch, tucking her legs beneath her body, a new knife forming her hand. Her eyes were as blank as they had been before, but there was a new focus in them, as though a switch inside her mind had been turned on, a priority spotted, a mission objective found. What had she said? InuYasha was the target.

Ichida wanted to cry out in warning, in fear, anything to give InuYasha the advance notice that Tsubaki was out for his life and his alone. In some ways that was a relief, for it meant that Kagome was safe, but in other's in was terror found new all over again. InuYasha was too strong to fight this weakened version of Tsubaki and lose, but with Tsubaki's single minded focus on him, she would not give up even if she was about to die. That gave Tsubaki a very good chance of dying.

"You are InuYasha," Tsubaki stated, her voice that had once been odd and unorganized suddenly pulled into a sharper focus.

InuYasha scoffed, "Yeah, and what of it?" he asked. It wasn't the usual relaxed banter of his, this was him digging for information.

Tsubaki stood slowly, her body still drunken and out of control, still flailing for the smooth efficiency that the real Tsubaki held, but she was more focused and more organized and more streamlined. Killing InuYasha was the only thing that mattered to her. "You are InuYasha. You are the primary mission objective."

"Objective?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "What the hell is going on here?!"

Tsubaki blinked, and then recited, "Primary mission objective; terminate the life of InuYasha. Master Naraku's orders.


	29. 29 Already Drowning

S-S: Congratulations! We all survived the apocalypse! Here's a chapter to say congratulations!

I also don't own InuYasha.

* * *

Naraku stepped over the body with nothing more than a causal glance to make sure that whoever he was wasn't moving. Suki, it seemed, had employed some sort of knockout technique, perhaps by applying enough heat to the back of the neck to induce a forced state of hibernation. The man, whoever he was, seemed to be wearing a white coat, one of these scientists the modern world had then. But that wasn't important. Why Suki wasn't here, that _was_ important, she should have shown up the moment he arrived, she should-

No, she _didn't_.

Eyes narrowed and rage rolling off of him that was so tangible you could have cut it, Naraku stormed into the room where he had thought to find Suki crying over her pathetic sister.

He found nothing more than an empty room, and an empty bed. So she ran then, did she? A self-assured smirk worked its way onto Naraku's face, because although this put a dent into his plans – plans that could always be reworked – at least this meant that he would be able to watch Suki break. He had to admit, he had been waiting for the moment to kill Chimaki, not because he held anything against the girl herself, but simply because he wanted to see what it would do to Suki. Call it an experiment.

His aura flickered as he activated the spell on the poison sack. Now Chimaki would be dead. That foolish Higure girl would learn her lesson for what happens when one goes against Naraku-

_Squish!_

"What." He said, his voice almost silent because this simply didn't make any sense. He turned around slowly to see something small, reddish-purple, lying on a plastic tray. "The poison sac…" he muttered, "That damn witch." She must have known that his discussion with Kagome would wholly occupy his attention, keeping his focus away from what she was doing. And she used it to her advantage, giving her enough time to get the poison out of her sister.

Naraku glanced down at the unconscious man on the ground. Had he been in on it as well, or was he the owner of this pathetic place that the Higure girl had until recently been residing in? No matter, even demonic this person was of no importance in the grand scheme of Naraku's plans. All that mattered at this very moment was killing the Higure girl. InuYasha and Kagome were nuisances that could and would be worth effort to be taken out, but he had a long standing conflict with them and it could wait, at least for a short while. Right now, he wanted to make that insignificant fool pay for double-crossing him.

Hmm… time to test out the mental link. "Tsubaki," he commanded, using the same spell as the crocodile demon, "Change of orders. Leave InuYasha be. The primary target is now Higure Suki. Terminate her upon contact."

Oh yes, she would pay indeed. And the delicious irony of having her life be taken by one of her so called 'friends' was simply the bonus of the situation.

* * *

Tsubaki blinked.

"New orders received," she said, her voice sounding like she was a machine, "Primary target has been changed to Higure Suki."

The awake Tsubaki was fine with that, the awake Tsubaki cared for nothing other than fulfilling her orders and serving Master Naraku faithfully. She didn't know the targets, not either of them, and she had no opinion as to whether or not they should die. All she knew was that her orders were to kill. But the awake Tsubaki wasn't all of Tsubaki. She was only bits and pieces of Tsubaki, wrapped up with orders and commands and spells and shoved into Tsubaki's body and set wild. So unfortunately for the awake Tsubaki, she was not as strong as the asleep one. That was why she was asleep. Because she was the stronger of the two.

And with these new orders, the asleep Tsubaki's eyes flickered. She was waking up and her mind was screaming in defiance.

"What do you mean?!" Kagome, the human girl, the miko, the one without death commands, asked, panicked, why panicked, no reason to be panicked, "Why do you have orders to kill Suki?! She didn't… she must have… she must have done something against Naraku. I thought that she wouldn't. Because…" she gasped and turned to Ichida, "That means that Chimaki is somehow safe!"

Ichida, the one that Tsubaki feels she cant kill, looks shocked, "How-? We tried everything-! This is fabulous! Chimaki-chan is free!"

"Yeah, and this one has orders to kill the Higure," InuYasha growled, "So what do we do? Kill her?"

Yes. Kill her so that the awake one doesn't have to kill because if she kills Higure Suki she feels as though she will no longer be really Tsubaki. She can't be Tsubaki without the asleep one still sleeping, but killing Higure Suki would be the one thing that wakes up the sleeping one. And her orders are to not let the asleep one wake up, but she also has orders to kill Higure Suki. Killing would be easier, and then Tsubaki can die for Master Naraku, which she has no problem with, but she does have a problem with killing Suki, or at least, the asleep one did.

But then her orders took control of what little there was left of a mind and she leapt backwards from the group. The asleep one wanted to cry out and tell them that she was going to try and get out and escape and stop this but the awake one was there to stop that from happening. Letting the asleep one wake up was against Master Naraku's orders.

She turned and ran with a burst of speed, flying over the tall iron gates and leaving the group behind her.

Her eyes felt itching and hot and wet and she realized that the asleep one was gaining control.

* * *

"Shit!" InuYasha swore violently, "She got away!" He swung his sword around and in a single fluid motion, sealed it into its scabbard with the burst of light that heralded the transformation. How could he have been so careless as to let a gold mine of information just walk away? If they had somehow been able to undo the brainwashing, then Tsubaki would have been able to tell them all of Naraku's plans that she had learned.

Hell, even if she knew nothing, InuYasha still wanted to remove the brainwashing. He hated to hear anyone be forced to call Naraku 'master' and he knew that every second Tsubaki wasn't herself, it hurt Kagome. And InuYasha hated it when Kagome got hurt. Even if the wound was emotional, even when there wasn't a demon to be slayed, InuYasha still wanted to be able to help Kagome, even I he didn't know what he was doing. He just had to help her because even after five hundred years and her losing her memories, InuYasha still loved Kagome.

Kagome let her bow fall to her side in defeat, "We let her go. Now I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" She felt as though she might cry. Once again, she let her friend fall deeper into the enemies hands, and even though she knew that this was bitterly wrong, there was nothing that she could do to fix this. They didn't know how to undo the brainwashing, and even if they did, it wouldn't matter now, because Tsubaki had ran. So there was nothing they could do, and Kagome hated that feeling of uselessness.

"She'll… she'll go after Suki," Ichida said, sad and depressed and resigned to the fate that their friend was beyond their help now, "I don't think that Tsubaki is capable of killing Suki, at least, not while she's not really Tsubaki. Her main advantage is how smart she is, but she's not smart anymore," Ichida looked longingly in the direction Tsubaki had vanished to, "I don't know if Suki can or will kill Tsubaki-chan. It all depends on what Tsubaki-chan does to Chimaki-chan."

"Well that really doesn't give us any idea what will happen, now will it," InuYasha retorted scathingly, giving Ichida a glare, "So in summary, we have no idea what's going to happen and no way to stop it."

Ichida only sighed and looked at the ground, "It's all my fault. If I had managed to kill her, if only I hadn't been so weak, then this would all be over," she whispered sadly.

With the look of one who just kicked a puppy on accident, InuYasha rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Okay, so I was harsh. It aint your fault, no one is gonna blame you," he said defensively, "We'll just go after her and see if we can stop it, simple as that."

Kagome unconsciously took a step closer to InuYasha, "But it's not that simple," she said quietly, her voice almost silent in the dead of night, "It really isn't."

* * *

The night sky was full of stars, each one a pinpoint of light that shone dully in comparison to the bright electric street lamps that dotted the side of the road at evenly planned intervals. A small black car streaked through the city's edge, rushing and hurrying and driving abysmally. One of the tires skidded on the corner and kicked its way through the gutter, splashing arcs of rainwater onto the sidewalk. Once they sped through a couple of red lights and pulled an illegal u-turn, it was made apparent that this driver had no concern for safety, traffic laws, or common sense.

Inside the car, Suki glanced over from the driver's seat and looked once again at her sister, who was pleasantly sleeping in the passenger's seat, a thick blanket swathing her frail form in warmth while she breathed heavily, her body fighting off the drugs. Somewhere in Suki's mind, she remembered reading that a patient recovering from surgery shouldn't be moved until at least two days afterwards, but Chimaki would simply have to be the exception, because they were out of time. Out of time and out of luck.

Suki sighed and ran a hand through her tangled purple hair. She knew that there were dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep and the fact that she was reluctant to close her eyes even when she knew that she wasn't going to sleep. There was just her reluctance to close her eyes because if she looked away for even a moment, she had a feeling that Chimaki would be stolen or killed or god-knows-what. Suki had to look out for Chimaki, she knew it. It was the only thing that she had to do in her life, the only thing that she honestly felt that she was obligated to do. Coincidentally enough, it was also the only thing that she was terrified she wouldn't succeed at. She had been successful at everything else in life that she had done, had always been someone who won and was the best, even if the best was never good enough. But she just kept being afraid that this was the one thing that she would fail.

The car swerved and Suki narrowly avoided a car coming from the other direction as she slammed on the accelerator and zoomed off the main road. She was on the side roads now, and she shifted into a faster gear and speed off at more miles an hour than were legal.

A thin stream of blood trickled onto her tongue, and Suki vaguely realized that she had bit her lip all the way through. She didn't have time to notice simple things like that. All she had to do was get Chimaki somewhere that she could be safe. Suki wasn't the world's best sister, and she knew that, but she had to do everything that she could for Chimaki, even if she wasn't sure where _she_ herself would end up when this all was finished. Her future didn't matter all that much, because she didn't have one without Chimaki.

"S-Suki-nee," Chimaki breathed quietly, her eyes fluttering open as she groggily took in the dark night and the speed of the car, "Wh-what?"

Suki released a breath of air that she hadn't been aware she was holding, "Don't worry Chimaki-nee, I'm going to get you somewhere safe." That was a promise. And Suki would die before she broke a promise that she made to her sister, which was funny, because dying was actually the most likely thing to happen to her. Suki wasn't on thin ice. She was already drowning.

The light turned on behind Chimaki's eyes, probably because there was so little for her to figure out and because the situation was so simple that it wouldn't take a genius like her to understand this. "My side aches a little from the surgery. Did the doctor do a good job?" Chimaki asked, her voice clear and bright and it made Suki's heart ache.

Suki nodded, "A very good job. And I didn't kill him, just as you asked. I only knocked him out. Should be fine in a day or so," her sister was such a pacifist, but Suki would kill anyone who hurt Chimaki, and she would spare anyone that Chimaki asked her to. Suki would do anything for her sister.

The light faded a little, "And we're running because… because…"

"Because Naraku will be out to kill us once he discovers my betrayal, yes," Suki finished, confirming her sister's thoughts, "We can outrun him though, we can run and hide until he dies like the insect that he is. Don't worry Chimaki-nee. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Chimaki looked hopeful, "He really will die then?" she asked.

"He will," Suki said firmly, "Ichida and Tsubaki have their orders to protect you and right now, that constitutes working for InuYasha and Kagome," she made sure to keep her eyes focused on the road speeding past her, even though she wanted nothing more than to turn her gaze to the ground out of shame, "I trust those two. They will kill Naraku, I know that."

There was a small smile on Chimaki's face when she replied, "You really-" she gasped and her smile turned to a scream, "NEE-SAN LOOK OUT!"

Suki's wide eyes registered the figure standing in the center of the road just in time to yank the wheel all the way around.

The car turned and swerved and skidded and came to a sudden halt in the center of the road, twisted sideways like a dead thing.

"Chimaki-nee!" Suki yelled, snapping open her seat belt and leaning over to her sister, "Are you all right?! Are you okay!?" her sister had to be okay, because it was unbearable, unthinkable is she wasn't. And even worse, it would have been Suki's fault.

Chimaki gave her a weak look of reassurance, "I am fine. What happened?"

"Someone stopped us," Suki realized with a frown. No one would be on the streets this late at night, and they would have certainly notice the car. But the figure had just been standing there, and Suki hadn't seen who it was. This meant that- "Naraku sent someone to stop us," she muttered under her breath. That bastard would pay.

Suki kicked open the car door and strode out into the dark street, her demonic eyes taking only a second to adjust to the night. She stepped around the car, ready to face whoever it was that had dared to stop her, oozing confidence and fury and anger. She was ready to kick some ass! Time to make Naraku pay, finish up here quickly, and then get on the road before too much time was lost.

The figure on the road was clothed in black, barely standing out in the night, a speck of form on a blank plane. And then the figure turned to face Suki. Blank eyes made contact with red ones.

And then Chimaki stepped out of the car and asked in wonder, "Tsubaki, what are you doing here?"


	30. 30 Broken Computer, Broken Mind

S-S: Merry Christmas everybody! And a happy New Year!

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

"Are you Higure Suki?" Tsubaki asked, her voice sounding more like a computer than a person.

Suki stepped closer to her old friend, moving in front of Chimaki defensively at the same time, keeping her eyes locked on Tsubaki's. There was something wrong with her eyes. Tsubaki had shiny black eyes normally, but now her eyes were blank and dull and dead and she wasn't really looking at Suki. She was looking _at_, but it was like she was unable to focus, her eyes didn't move when Suki moved like a regular person's eyes would, they just stayed un-moving and lifeless. Something horribly wrong had happened and Suki had no idea what.

She shrugged and took a slow step closer, "Yeah, that's me," she said casually, "But the real Tsubaki wouldn't have to confirm that, you know. What did you do? Possess her body but no access to her memories?" Suki frowned, "Yeah, that sounds like Tsubaki all right. She always had a pretty tight grip on her mind, knew herself better than most people do."

Tsubaki's face flickered, a small movement behind her eyes that was a flood of emotion and feeling just below the surface, "You are Higure Suki. You are the primary target. Termination of your life has been ordered by Master Naraku."

Master Naraku? What the hell had happened to Tsubaki? "What are you?" Suki asked, slowly striding up to Tsubaki and observing her like the enemy that she now was, "Some sort of demon that slips inside a body and inhabits it? A spell of obedience?" she frowned, "Come one Tsubaki! If you're still in there then get up and fight!"

"There is no demon in her body," Chimaki said quietly.

Suki whirled around to see her fearless sister slowly walking up to Tsubaki, her head tilted to the side as she stared, unblinking and unafraid. "And Tsubaki is still in there," her voice was a whisper, the light in her eyes blinding, almost as if she was seeing through Tsubaki, "Brainwashing. A powerful spell, taking Tsubaki's physical strength and fighting abilities, sealing the rest of her away and implanting the conscious desire to obey orders in her mind. It is difficult to get rid of also, because there is no foreign presence in the mind or body, there is only a want to obey and follow orders, which can be taken from any part of the subconscious, only the target of obedience is changed to the spell's user."

That was her sister. Brilliant. Before she was really aware of it, a proud grin had spread across Suki's face, "See that Tsubaki?" she taunted, "That's my fabulously genius sister, Chimaki. You knew who she was before you were stripped of your free will."

"She is irrelevant. Target is Higure Suki," Tsubaki restated, a little desperately, like she was shaking or panicking or losing control of her state of consciousness.

Suki frowned, "Yeah, but you haven't killed me or attacked me yet, have you?"

There was something that was stopping Tsubaki from killing her, she just had to find out what and how she could use it to get her friend back. Any sign of her willingness to betray Naraku was a good thing, one step closer to Tsubaki's recovery from this crazy brainwashing thing that he came up with. What had Chimaki-nee said? Something about taking obedience and changing the target? Well, that was easy enough to exploit. The real Tsubaki worked and took orders from Suki. Maybe that was why she hadn't come after her yet or tried to kill her. How would that work? If they destroyed the desire to take orders, regardless of who those orders came from, would it break the spells placed on Tsubaki, snap her out of it?

Either way, Suki wasn't going to try and make Tsubaki erase the desire to follow orders, because that most likely would mean having Suki commit suicide on Tsubaki's blade or something along those lines. That was a no go. But maybe Chimaki-nee would have an idea, "Nee-san," Suki asked, making sure that her sister was behind her in case something went wrong, "Do you have an idea how we get Tsubaki out of this?"

Chimaki blinked and then frowned and then nervously bit her lip in a look of intense concentration as she thought and studied Tsubaki, "Tsubaki is… is… a computer. And she's not working right now. So fix her like a computer."

"What?" Suki gave her sister a look, "How do you fix a computer that's not working?"

It didn't make sense! She turned to ask Chimaki again, and then there was a flash of metal in her peripheral vision and a sudden stab of pain from her stomach.

Tsubaki had stabbed her.

"Fuck…" Suki muttered under her breath. "I wanted to do this without hurting you, you know. You've just made this worse for yourself."

Then she stepped forwards and let the knife get ripped out of Tsubaki's grasp. The agony dissipated as she immediately placed a hand to her side, tearing the metal out of her flesh and trying to wad up the fabric of her shirt to stop the blood flow and hopefully do something about the god-damn pain that the wound was causing her whenever she breathing in and out. The metal clattered to the ground as Suki turned around to face Tsubaki, glaring at her old friend that she now knew she had to keep a closer eye on than she had previously thought.

Tsubaki looked shocked that she had done such a thing as well. There was a scared and confused expression on her face, as if she honestly couldn't understand why she had taken a knife and stabbed Suki, even though she knew it was her orders and even though she seemed to live to serve Naraku. Suki's idea had been right, killing Suki would eliminate Tsubaki's desire to serve and obey orders, as well as kill a fundamental metal component to Tsubaki's psyche. That was the same reason that she had ignored Chimaki, because killing her would also destroy part of who she was. It seemed as though she was still fighting from the inside and trying to take back her mind, even if it was in the most minuscule of ways.

"Suki-nee!" Chimaki screamed, rushing to Suki's side.

Suki gently pushed her sister away, "Get back Chimaki-nee," she ordered, her voice as harsh as she ever could be with her sister. "I have to deal with her alone, and I don't want you to get caught in the cross-fire. Stay safe."

Chimaki gave her a fleeting look as she scuttled back to the car and hid behind the open passenger door. Chimaki knew when to give in to her sister's demands, she knew that her sister always had her in mind and she knew that her sister would never let her get hurt. But it didn't mean that Chimaki was happy to let Suki fight alone, because even if there was nothing that she could do, Chimaki wanted to help.

Suki slowly paced in a wide circle around Tsubaki, like a predator stalking its prey, falling back into her old trends from fighting one-on-one, infinitely more preferable to her forced assassinations under Naraku. There was the steady pace of her feet and she could feel energy coursing through her veins, just begging her to burn and scorch. Her red eyes were completely focused on Tsubaki, watching her every move. Her friend was still looking shocked, but that meant that Suki had a chance to do whatever it is she was supposed to do.

What did that mean anyways?

Tsubaki was a computer? How did a person fix a computer that stopped working? The answers weren't coming to her, and she knew that they should be, she knew that she was smart even if she wasn't brilliant, smart enough to figure this out. Come on, how to fix a malfunctioning computer…? Suki took another step and thought harder.

How would she fix a computer?

SCREECH!

There was the scream and burn of tires on tarmac as the approaching car came to a sudden stop right in front of them, headlights blinding Suki for a moment.

"Damn…" she muttered, "Kagome showed up."

The car doors opened and three people hurried out onto the street. There was Kagome, armed with only a bow and arrows, although Suki noticed that she had switched to using obsidian arrow heads. Good, those would be useful against Tsubaki because they contained no metal, only stone. Tsubaki couldn't use stone. Kagome looked more worried though, more worried and a bit more lost in thought than before, which wasn't good because the last thing that they needed was for Kagome to distracted or shell-shocked.

InuYasha was there too, wearing a strange red haori over his shirt. His sword was still sheathed, so Suki still had control over the conflict, but he looked ready to jump into the fight in a second if he had to. Almost unnoticeably, InuYasha and Kagome seemed to gravitate around each other. InuYasha would move in front of her and she would move behind him and they would be in almost perfect synch.

Then there was Ichida.

Suki looked back to Tsubaki, because she suddenly had an idea of what her sister had meant when she called Tsubaki a computer.

"Suki!" Kagome yelled with that terribly worried and afraid expression on her face, as if she was scared to even look at her, "Are you alr-"

"STAY BACK!" Suki barked, her command forcing Kagome to stop dead in her tracks, "Tsubaki's just after me! Stay out of the way and don't do anything stupid while I fix her!"

Kagome still looked like she was going to try and intervene, even though she probably knew that Suki could look after herself. There was just something about Kagome that was like that, she always wanted to help. Kinda like Ichida. But then InuYasha placed a firm hand on her shoulder and Kagome stayed back. Suki almost laughed. How unbelievable to think that InuYasha would actually be helping her out?

It didn't matter, all that mattered was that Kagome was staying out of the way. This was all Suki's fault, like so many things in life, this had been a direct repercussion of her own actions. If Suki hadn't sent Tsubaki into danger then she wouldn't have ended up brainwashed. But if Suki hadn't been able to get her moment of opportunity, then Chimaki wouldn't have been freed and Tsubaki wouldn't have been sent after her. She was just stuck on a path in life that she could despise and hate and want to leave, but the only way out for her was to keep on going, even if she ended up hurting those around her even more.

She had started this with the sole intention of protecting Chimaki and keeping her safe and that was the only thing that she could focus on, the only thing that she had to ensure happened. The simple bitter truth was that everything, every single misfortune that had befallen her friends, everything was all her fault. All Suki could do was accept that and try to change what she could. And right now, she was going to try to fix Tsubaki. She could deal with everything else later, there was only so much she could try to fix before she simply shattered like the broken mind that she was.

Suki stepped closer to Tsubaki. There was no recognition in her friend's eyes and it killed a tiny part of Suki. "You know Tsubaki," Suki said tiredly, "I'm kinda surprised that you haven't realized what I'm gonna do to fix you. You always were the smart one after all."

"No. Higure Suki is primary target," Tsubaki replied desperately, "Primary target. Kill Higure Suki. Orders must be followed. Obey Master Naraku."

There were cracks in Tsubaki's mind and Suki could see them now. The strain of being in a position where she would have to kill someone that she cared about was slowly breaking the spells placed on Tsubaki. Previously blank and dark eyes were struggling to light up from within. The brainwashing was coming undone at the seams like the poorly made spell that it was.

That was the thing about Naraku. He didn't understand people as well as he thought he did. He knew how to make them weak and how to break them and turn their resolve into dust, but he couldn't understand what made people strong again. That was how it had been easy to make him believe that Ichida had turned traitor. He simply didn't get that their bond could not be broken through anything less than death. Friends till the end, whenever that may be. That was how it was. And Naraku simply could not bring himself to understand things like that. That was his weakness.

"Tell me Tsubaki, or the real Tsubaki," Suki said slowly moving closer to her as Tsubaki began to shake, "or whichever Tsubaki is the one that is my friend and is hiding down inside there, did you figure it out? Do you know how you can get out of here?" The real Tsubaki would have been the first to figure it out, she would have seen the answer since the moment Chimaki mentioned computers, "You always were very good at computers…"

Tsubaki's hands began to shake as she tried to fight inside herself, "Have to kill… orders… Master Naraku… have to kill Higure Suki…" she choked out.

Suki simply shook her head and stepped right up to Tsubaki until she was staring her right in the eyes, "You can't kill me," she stated, "And now I'm going to save you."

Heat, blinding white hot heat.

Suki held up a red and hot glowing hand that was burning, "How do you fix a computer that's not working?" she asked, "You reboot it."

And with that she pressed her hands to Tsubaki's head.

* * *

_NOOOOOOO!_

The awake Tsubaki couldn't move because the asleep one was holding her down and the asleep one was taking control of the body, slowly, but with power and strength because she had more substance and more reality to her than the awake one did. The asleep one was the real Tsubaki, and the awake one knew that the reality was power. The owner of the mind always held control, and that was why the asleep one had to be asleep.

But then there was burning on her head, so sudden, so intense, so powerful.

Tsubaki's eyes fluttered shut and the awake one was trapped in the mind.

_There was Tsubaki and there was Tsubaki._

_One was like a projected image, pale and transparent and flickering because it didn't really know if it was Tsubaki or not. The other was solid and steady and standing tall, powerful because the solid one held power in the mind._

"_Please," the fake sobbed, begging the real one with everything that she had in her fake mind and fake heart, "Please don't wake up! Waking up… against orders, Master Naraku ordered to make sure that you slept! Master Naraku will… Can't fail Master Naraku's order!"_

_The real one stepped closer to the fake one, and the fake one cringed in fear and horror, because she was sure that the real one was going to take painful revenge for this all. But then the real one hugged the fake one, "Do not worry," the real one said in a quiet and sure and steady voice that spoke only true promises, "I won't let Naraku hurt you. You are me. In my mind he can never hurt you. And I am going to let you sleep."_

_And then the spell cracked and shattered and broke. _

_Places were switched. _

_The fake Tsubaki fell asleep and the real Tsubaki stepped forward out of the dark._

She was awake.

* * *

Tsubaki opened her eyes.


	31. 31 The Enemies Mind

S-S: So sorry for the late update, I was super busy over the holidays and then school started up again and life was even more busy… you get the idea. Happy very belated Christmas, though!

And I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

Tsubaki opened her eyes.

There was a brief moment of confusion in her own head, her vision blurry and switching between her mental dreamworld and the real world and then back again as she tried to sort out her own mind. Who was she? She was so _dead_, she had let herself get beaten by the asleep one, oh no and Master Naraku was going to _kill_ her when he found her and – no she _didn't_ obey that spider, she was Tsubaki and she was free and she wasn't going to follow his orders! Wait, but then who was she? Which one was she? She… she was the real one. Yes, that was right. She was the solid and real Tsubaki. The fake one was sleeping now, sleeping peacefully in the back of her mind.

"I-" she tried to speak, but her voice seemed to come out to flat and too dead and then she realized that her voice was sore, "I'm- I'm _me_," she rasped.

Blurry faces filled her vision and she picked out Suki and Ichida and Chimaki, standing over her and watching and making sure that she was okay. Suki had that worried expression on her face that made her look as though she was trying very hard to be strong on the outside but panicked on the inside. Ichida was an open book, her relieved emotions plain to read, and Chimaki was a jigsaw mess as usual, all jumbled and clear at the same time.

Kagome was there as well, hovering nervously over and looking strangely guilty. For a brief moment, Tsubaki wondered why Kagome was there and why Suki hadn't attacked her yet and what on earth had happened. Wasn't Kagome their enemy? No wait, she had been asleep – sort of – at the time, but Ichida had teamed up with them so that meant that they had to be in alliance. Naraku had sent Tsubaki to kill Suki, he had and she was strangely clear on that topic, so that must mean that Suki had done something to displease him. Chimaki was there and she was safe, so did that mean that Suki had somehow freed her sister? That was wonderful, truly.

"Tsubaki!" Ichida cried, "Are you okay? What's the last thing that you can remember? Is the brainwashing gone? Is your mind okay? What-"

Tsubaki coughed and cut her off, "I am fine, Ichida."

She realized that she was lying on the ground, she must have fallen after Suki forced her to pass out. With her limbs heavily protesting – she felt stiff and sore, as though she had slept on her arms and legs oddly – she pushed herself up so that she was half-sitting up and half-crouching on the ground, "What-" speaking was still hard. She swallowed and tried again, "What happened?"

Suki held out a hand that Tsubaki gratefully accepted, pulling herself off the ground, "I… knocked you out," Suki replied, looking strangely guilty, "Then you collapsed. You were only out for a few moments though," she added.

Tsubaki swayed and struggled to stand properly, leaning on Suki for support. Why did Suki sound guilty? It had been Tsubaki's fault, Tsubaki's failure, and it was Tsubaki who felt as though she owed Suki a great debt for both Tsubaki's own foolishness in getting caught and for saving her. Tsubaki lowered her head to the ground, "I see,"

She let go of Suki's arm, teetered for a moment before she sunk to her knees and bowed down, hiding her shame and her face under a curtain of black hair, "I beg your forgiveness for horrible failure in allowing myself to be used by the enemy. It was an inexcusable mistake, and I shall never make it again. I do not deserve to-"

And that was when Suki couldn't take it anymore, "Stop that!" she barked.

Tsubaki gasped and looked up at the girl that she knew was her better in life, unsure as to why she was ignoring her crimes against her. Tsubaki was a Yozeme, and the Yozeme always had served the Higure clan. Even now, with the three clans destroyed by fires and time with only a few scattered members left, the three of them had never denied their birthright. And Tsubaki's birthright told her that not only had she failed the one she was dedicated to serve, but that Suki was justified in delivering a punishment.

"I thought you knew!" Suki yelled at her, not angry but for some reason strangely sad, "Those stupid old traditions are dead and gone and there's no damn reason any more for them to continue! So what if you made a mistake!? It wasn't your fault! It-" Suki choked, "It was mine. I sent you in there, I set you up for failure. It was my fault. Don't you dare blame yourself."

Tsubaki didn't understand, why was Suki not angry? "But I-"

"Stop it!" Kagome cried. The two turned to face the other girl, who looked outraged in a sad sort of way, like she was angry that they were sad, "Tsubaki!" she snapped, turning to the dark-haired girl, "You don't need to apologize! What's done is done! Suki!" she turned to the older girl, "Just accept her apology already! You two are friends, not master and servant, now act like it!"

Suki blinked.

Tsubaki blinked.

Both looked rather surprised and shocked. Neither had expected Kagome to burst like that, and certainly not so loudly.

"Yeesh, finally a bit of silence," InuYasha said exasperatedly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I thought that you two would never shut up."

Tsubaki turned to Suki and stood up, her head still lowered but no longer in a bow, "I am sorry. But…" she looked around at Ichida, Chimaki, even at Kagome and InuYasha because they were friends as well now. They were all on the same side, technicalities and lies out of the way. "I think I might know what Naraku is going to do next."

InuYasha snapped his eyes right over to Tsubaki, now giving her his full and undivided attention, "Say what?" he asked, his voice flat, "Did he brainwash this into you as well?"

Trying to look him in the eyes, Tsubaki replied steadily, "No. When I threw off the spell, it was different than normal brainwashing, which is simply forcing preprogramed responses and commands onto the subject mind. This created a bubble of mental abilities, taking my fighting skill and physical responses, as well as loyalty from my mind. In a sense, this created a split personality, albeit a fake one. However, when I took back control of my body, I didn't destroy the split personality, because that would be impossible," her voice faltered, "In a way, I absorbed her into my own mind."

Suki gingerly placed a hand on Tsubaki's shoulder, attempting to calm what was clearly nervousness. Tsubaki didn't often look worried like this, but it was easy for Suki to find why she was upset. She still blamed herself for this failing, and was afraid that Suki would blame her for what she thought of as a failure – not fully getting rid of the split personality. "And let me guess," Suki said quietly, "That split personality of yours had quite a good understanding of what Naraku's plan was?"

Nodding reluctantly, Tsubaki added, "She knew what he wanted her to do, yes. But there is more than just that."

Kagome frowned as she grasped hold of an idea, "Do you mean how you suddenly switched targets? Like you knew what he wanted you to do?" she asked.

Tsubaki nodded again, "I could understand what he was thinking and what he wanted me to do."

"It is deeper than that," Chimaki spoke up, her sudden voice surprising the group. She had that strange look again, like she was looking deeper at Tsubaki than what everyone else could see. Like she was looking inside Tsubaki's mind. The mental switch, as Suki had described it, was turned on. And Chimaki was brilliant. "There is a mental link between you and Naraku. An aspect of the spell placed on you allowed him to directly implant commands into your consciousness. However, since the split personality created by the spell has not been destroyed and has instead merged with your consciousness, it should theoretically enable you to peer into his mind in return."

"Hold on," InuYasha held up a hand and looked as though he was having difficulty understanding exactly what the hell was going on – Ichida was clueless as well but she wisely said nothing – "Does this mean that the Yozeme can read Naraku's mind? See what he's planning to do?"

Chimaki nodded steadily, "Yes. There will be a 93 percentage of probability of this succeeding. If it does, Tsubaki will perhaps have 1.3 minutes at maximum to read his thoughts before he breaks the residual link. Less, if he is expecting her to do so."

"What if I cannot read his thoughts?" Tsubaki asked, holding back the fear from her voice. Chimaki had only said that there was a chance, and a chance wasn't always a guarantee.

Breaking eye contact, Chimaki looked down at the cement road. For the first time in a long while, she was completely aware of the situation and in complete control of her mind. And to her deep regret, that control didn't matter in the end, was useless and pointless and worthless because Chimaki couldn't help her friend, "I don't know," she reluctantly admitted.

Tsubaki's already white skin paled at that. "Alright," she said, and to her surprise she sounded steady and confident, "I'll do it."

"Don't," Kagome implored her, "We don't know what will happen and it's not worth it! You could-"

InuYasha cut her off, "Do it," he said certainly, "Kagome's right that we don't know what'll happen, and we don't know if it'll go right or not, but we're clueless without this lead. You are sitting on top of an information gold mine, Yozeme, and we are going to take full advantage of this. Now do it."

Slowly, Suki let her hand drop from Tsubaki's shoulder. She couldn't let her friend take the risk. But she wouldn't stop Tsubaki from doing something that she had to do. Suki needed to keep Chimaki safe, and the only way that could happen would be if Naraku was dead. Thus the line of dominos became stacked against her again and all she could do was take a deep breath before they fell, "Do what you feel is right," she offered silently.

Tsubaki gave her a tiny smile. "I have to try."

"You should sit down," Chimaki advised her, "Meditate and try to ask the other personality for help. Maybe she will answer."

With a nod, Tsubaki sat down on the ground and closed her eyes. She had to get to that state of dream-like awareness again. Just enough so that she could talk to her other persona. Easy. Tsubaki had meditated a thousand times, she knew her mind inside and out, was sure of every part of herself.

She slipped away.

_And opened her eyes in her mind. _

_What a strange thing this is, she mused silently to herself. Or was it out loud? Were her thoughts spoke aloud as words or was there a separate thought process for regular thoughts and mental speech? Either way, the entire experience unnerved her in the most peculiar way. In one way, the place she was in now was wholly unfamiliar, and in a different yet the same way, she could not feel more at home here. _

_The last time she had been here, she hadn't had a chance to look around, but now she cast her gaze about the place. This was her mind. She would learn to understand it. _

_She was in a huge room, like a ballroom, high ceiling and clear floors, light pouring into the room from some unknown source. There were no windows and no lanterns or lights, but she could see everything with pristine clarity. Branching off of the room were a plethora of winding staircases that vanished to higher rooms and long hallways that went on for longer than Tsubaki cared to walk for. In the center of the room were a sign post and a table with chairs._

_As she walked towards the table, she noticed that she couldn't feel the smooth marble floor beneath her feet. She could still see it, but she wasn't touching it. Oh wait, yes she was. It seemed as though as soon as she had thought that she wasn't really here, she became part of the surroundings. _

_She stopped and examined the signpost. _

_In her own neat handwriting on crystal hands, there were the strangest directions that she had ever seen. To the left pointed 'Years twenty to thirty-three', then right across from that was, 'Years zero to nineteen' and if that hadn't made her mind spin, there were categories like, 'Places Visited' and 'Frightening Experiences'. A staircase to her right was labeled as 'Family Matters' and there was a large hallway marked as 'Self Philosophy'. There were whole corridors for Suki, Ichida, and Chimaki, and even InuYasha and Kagome had worked their way onto the sign post. _

_And then, right at the bottom, her hand had scratched onto a piece of paper and taped it onto the post, 'The fake one'._

_Tsubaki followed the scribbled arrow to see a door in a corner of the room that had been padlocked shut. _

_With a slight frown, she touched the paper once. It melted into another crystal hand that read this time, 'Our Other Self'. That was better._

_Then Tsubaki walked right over to the door._

_The padlock was heavy and made of stone, a clear mental defense, working with Tsubaki's inability to manipulate stone like she could metal. Even so, the lock didn't stop her for a moment. It wasn't meant to. It just had to stop the other one from getting out. Tsubaki waved her hand across the door and the padlock faded into the air and the door creaked open. _

_Inside was a large bed, draped with thin gossamer that fluttered in the breeze. There was a smaller and less substantial Tsubaki sleeping there, tucked into a protective ball under a mountain of heavy blankets. The fake Tsubaki breathed out, and her form flickered. Breathe in, and her form solidified. _

_Tsubaki walked over to the bed and gently pushed aside the curtains. She sat down next to the sleeping form there and placed a delicate hand on her forehead, "Wake."_

_The fake one's eyes flickered open, "Please don't," she begged, knowing what Tsubaki was about to do, "If you read his mind, Master Naraku will be furious!"_

"_Yes, I imagine he would be," Tsubaki said calmly, "Do not worry, you will be safe. I told you that he would never hurt you, and I will not break that promise. Just let me go through you to get to him."_

_The fake one paused, and then she nodded, because she was Tsubaki as well and she knew that this had to be done. _

_Tsubaki leaned forward, and then, as if she knew what to do, she fell into the body of the fake one._

_She felt as though she was falling through everything that there ever was and ever would be, a force to great to allow her through. It smashed against her and blocked her way and barred her from moving when she thrashed out and tried to press forward._

_Then she was still and it let her pass. _

_She felt herself flowing through the sky and through the earth at the same time, and she reveled in what a marvelous sensation it was. This was peace. _

_Then she could see and hear things that she had never heard before. _

_KILL THEM ALL. THEY- NO DIE!- YOU ALL- RUN FROM ME- WHY CAN'T YOU JUST- SHE SHOULD BE MINE- THAT FILTHY HALFBREED- HOW DARE HE- I WAS HUMAN ONCE TOO SO WHY AM I NOW- NEEDS TO FEAR ME, THEY ALL HAVE TO FEAR ME- THAT HIGURE BRAT- DAMN YOU INUYASHA-_

_There was blood, blood everywhere, and the world seemed to be torn by malicious claws that had been so familiar, oh wait, she had torn the world herself. _

_NO! She had not torn her mind, Naraku had done that, this was Naraku's mind, Naraku's thoughts and she was Tsubaki, she was just lost in Narkau's mind. All she had to do was focus on what was her and what was not._

"_What are my plans," she spoke aloud, hoping that his ripped up mind would be confused by her presence and answer, "As a faithful soldier, I want to know my orders."_

_NEW ASPECT-RE-INCARNATION-OFSPRING-BODY-SERVANT. CREATE A NEW BODY USING DEAD AND ABSORBED MIND. CROCODILE-FOREIGN-UNKNOWN. _

_KILL HIGURE AND KILL KAGOME AND KILL INUYASHA._

"_Thank you," Tsubaki said with a smirk, "That was all I needed to know."_

_And then she vanished, just as the mind ripped, realizing that Tsubaki was an enemy._

* * *

"_How dare she!_" Naraku hissed, furious beyond reason. How dare that pathetically weak girl break the brainwashing spell and then turn it against him!? How dare she steal his thoughts?!

He would kill her too, once he got rid of the rest.


	32. 32 Nowhere Is Safe

S-S: An idea has been floating around my head and I thought it would be good to bounce it off you guys before I decide anything. Okay. So. Obviously, there is a lot of backstory in this story, like the war with the Higures, Sesshomaru and Kagura getting together, InuYasha just coping with Kagome's 'death'… you get the idea. Anyways, my idea was to write a prequel to Silver covering all of this stuff. Tell me what you all think!

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

Tsubaki gasped, her eyes snapping open and her breath coming in ragged heaves. Delicately, like poking a wound, she probed her mind to check and see if Naraku's insanity had gotten in or if she had left part of herself behind. After a moment of carefully controlled panic, she sighed in relief. Nothing was missing and nothing was broken. She was all there.

"Tsubaki! You're okay!" Ichida cheered, hugging Tsubaki enthusiastically around the waist and burying her orange head into Tsubaki's shoulder, "I'm so glad you're all right! I couldn't even breathe from worry!"

Gingerly, Tsubaki pried Ichida off of her, "Thanks Ichida, but I need to breathe too,"

Getting the message, Ichida jumped back and stood awkwardly, but still with that relief on her face. Suki had her arms protectively around Chimaki's arm, keeping her twin as close to her as possible, the worry quickly vanishing from both their faces, "I'm glad you're okay," Suki said quietly, as if she might jinx it if she spoke louder.

"I am safe," Tsubaki said, standing up and brushing off her pants, "And I was able to read a few of his thoughts before I had to leave."

Kagome smiled, "I'm just glad that you're back and that you're safe!"

"Hey Yozeme," InuYasha growled. He was leaning against his car, his arms crossed and a look of angry contemplation on his face, as if he didn't trust her and didn't trust what she had done, "Would you mind explaining how exactly you did that? Just seems to me a bit suspicious. You know, how you managed to break the brain washing and then read his thoughts without getting caught. Almost as if he let you go and then decided that it was okay for you to read his mind. Almost as if you were working for him."

Turning around in a huff, Kagome immediately got on his case, "Don't imply such things about Tsubaki!" she scolded him, "She didn't _want_ to get brainwashed by some horrific spell of Naraku's and she certainty didn't turn to his side! Be thankful that she managed to get information and stay safe."

He frowned at her, "I'm not trying to be the enemy here, but you gotta admit that it is suspicious! The Yozeme had every opportunity to turn to Naraku's side, and maybe she did!"

"InuYasha," this time it wasn't Kagome who spoke. It was Suki. "I understand why you would suspect Tsubaki, and you are justified to do so. However, Tsubaki did not turn to Naraku. She has very good control over her own mind and thoughts, and Chimaki-nee, Ichida, and I have known this for a very long time. This control was what allowed her break the brainwashing and to enter Naraku's mind. She is not working for him."

InuYasha raised an eyebrow accusingly, "And how do you know this for certain?" he demanded.

Suki looked down at the ground, wishing that InuYasha had just taken her word for it. It wasn't his fault, he was just being protective. Protecting Kagome, the woman that he so clearly loved and who so clearly loved him back, and Suki couldn't fault him for that because she too was protecting the one that she loved. Suki simply did not like to discuss her past. It hurt too much, "Tsubaki swore her loyalty to me. On her own life. She would die before she betrayed me."

"An oath on her life, huh?" InuYasha mused to himself, almost as if he knew what Suki was talking about better than she did. For all she knew, maybe that was the case. He certainly had enough to protect. "All right," he said at last, "I'll believe you," he turned to Tsubaki, "So tell us what you know."

Tsubaki thought back to the sounds – that horrible and crazed voice – that she had heard when she had entered Naraku's mind. "He is creating something. An… aspect, or an incarnation, or an… an offspring. A servant. There was something about using a dead mind, an _absorbed_ mind. Then there was something about a crocodile-foreign-unknown. It was hard to get very much. His mind was ripped to shreds and his thoughts screamed inside his head. He must be insane," she fixed InuYasha with a serious stare, "But there was one thing for certain. He's coming after us. And he's very angry."

To her surprise, InuYasha grinned, almost evilly, "Excellent. I have been wanting a rematch with that bastard."

"InuYasha," Kagome said sternly, "You couldn't kill him last time you fought. That means that if we are going to get rid of him this time, were are going to have to work together. Which means you, and Suki, and Ichida, and Tsubaki, and me. All of us fighting. Which means you need to get over whatever issue's you have with the others."

He turned his head and looked as though he was pouting, "I'll fight with 'em. So long as I don't have to get along with them the rest of the time."

That was as good as it was going to get it seemed. Kagome sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder, "They're my friends. Please play nice, okay?" she asked, giving him a tentative smile.

"Fine," he said with a frown that quirked into a smile as soon as he noticed Kagome's hand.

Looking over at the happy couple, Suki subconsciously took a step closer to her twin, "So is your plan to let Naraku come find us and fight him then?" she demanded of him.

He nodded, "That's the plan."

"No," Suki said firmly, "I won't let you do that. It's as Kagome said, right? You need us, all of us to kill Naraku. And I refuse to let him come right to us. Chimaki won't be safe. We need to go somewhere safe, and wait for him there."

"Oi," InuYasha growled, "You can't just plan on your own and expect the rest of us to go along with it! If this whole team thing is going to work out, then you'll have to trust that when the fight comes, we'll keep your sister safe. That's how the team thing works, I would know better than you. There's got to be trust."

She stood firm, "I know about trust. But the thing is, while I would trust you to watch my back in a fight, I would never trust anyone besides myself to keep Chimaki safe. Even Tsubaki and Ichida know that, and I trust them more than I've trusted anyone before, save Chimaki-nee of course." Her red eyes stared deep into InuYasha's golden ones and they were unwavering, "I must keep my sister safe."

"I'm sorry," Chimaki whispered, clinging to Suki's arm like a lifeline, "I'm such a burden to my little sister, and even though I'm supposed to be the older twin, I can't fight or protect those I care about."

Suki stayed close to her sister, "Nee-san, it' not your fault, don't blame yourself. Besides," she said with a half-hearted attempt at a smile, "You unlocked your powers just recently. You've got the tattoo and everything. I'll start teaching you to fight after we get rid of Naraku, as soon as there's time. Then you can stay safer." Safer. There was no safe, the two twins had learned that early on, there was only safer but no safe.

"Nee-san," Chimaki said quietly, "Thank you. But that doesn't change the now."

"I know," Suki looked up at InuYasha, "We head somewhere safe. Then once I know that Chimaki-nee can be defended, we will stand and fight Naraku."

InuYasha wasn't going to budge his opinion either, "We can't keep running like cowards, we have to stand our ground! You're nothing more than a weak coward, all you do is run and hide when you should be standing up for yourself and fighting, not hiding behind the backs of your two friends there!"

Hands tightening into fists, Suki yelled, "It's not as though I like risking their lives! I would rather die than have them be killed, but if it is a choice between putting them in possible danger and placing Chimaki-nee in definite danger, I will always choose my sister's safety over anyone else's and they know that! We run!"

"You can't spend your whole life looking out for your twin!" he yelled back, "You can't always run!"

"I have to protect her!" Suki cried, "Because no one else ever has! Tsubaki and Ichida watch out for her, but when it comes down to it, me and Chimaki only have each other! Our own father tried to kill her as a baby, he tried to drown her like a cat! Our own father! Do you honestly think that I can ever trust anyone with my sister's life ever again!"

"Stop fighting!" Kagome yelled, standing between the two of them with her arms spread out like a barrier as if to physical prevent the two from getting at the other's throat. "This is getting us nowhere!"

InuYasha huffed and continued to glare at Suki, "Yeah, this is," he muttered angrily.

Tsubaki stepped up before Suki made another angry retort. She had an idea, and although she knew that she wasn't on InuYasha's good side and that she wasn't exactly in a position of trust, it was worth discussing. "If you both could listen for a moment," she spoke up, "I have an idea of a compromise."

"Like what?" InuYasha replied warily.

"We need to go somewhere safe, somewhere that Suki knows well and that is highly defensible that would be a good place to fight Naraku in," Tsubaki ran over, "And I think I know a place like that."

Ichida's tanned face turned pale, because she knew exactly what Tsubaki was going to say, "Are you talking about the place I think you're talking about?" she asked, "Why would you want to go back there, Tsubaki-chan! That place is-"

"Safe," Tsubaki cut her off, "At least, as safe as we are going to get. I propose that we go to my family's old stronghold in the mountains. It is abandoned, and nobody lives there or anywhere near there, and considering how paranoid my family was back when the place was made, believe me when I say that there are enough traps to take out an army. That should be a good place to hide Chimaki, and it will be defensible, an added bonus for when Naraku attacks."

InuYasha paused, looking as though he was seriously considering this idea, "All right. Say we go for this idea. Are you sure that there's no way Naraku could get there before us and ruin this whole plan?"

She shook her head, "No, my family never told anyone outside of the main line and the Higures where our main base was hidden, so there is no chance of Naraku even knowing that it exists, let alone its location."

"I see," he said, frowning at the ground while he spoke, "Good plan. We're heading to the mountains."

* * *

The crocodile man felt strange as he walked through the night-time streets of Tokyo.

He knew enough about himself to know that he had once lived in Australia and that he had fought with a sword, but beyond that and his undying support to Master Naraku, there was nothing left in his head. There was a vague knowledge buried somewhere inside him that was yelling at him that there was something very important missing.

Maybe it was a soul? He didn't really know what a soul was, but Master Naraku had told him that he didn't have one. The crocodile man was sure that a soul couldn't be that important, because Master Naraku had obviously decided that it wasn't necessary for him to have one.

Maybe he was feeling the acute loss of his sword.

Master Naraku had told him that he had once had a sword inside his belly. Apparently, some fire demon girl now had it inside of her. Dammed thief. For some reason, the fact that the thief fire demon girl was Japanese made him dislike her even more, but again, he wasn't sure why that was. Did he have a grudge against the Japanese? For that matter, he wasn't even sure what Japanese was. Was it like Australia, a place?

Either way, he was aware that he needed a sword. Master Naraku had told him so.

The crocodile man stopped in front of an antique weapons shop. There were strange bars on the windows and a sign on the glass door that informed him that the shop was closed and would be open the next day. He glanced back up at the moon. Maybe shops – whatever those were – didn't open at night?

Didn't really matter, he supposed. With a shrug of his shoulders, he punched his fist through the glass and grabbed the machete that rested on a stand behind the display. Retrieving his hand from the mess of shards, he examined the blade. Good, if a bit rusty, and a nice sharp edge.

The glass shards had sliced his hand up. It was bleeding, blood everywhere and cuts that might take an hour to heel if he didn't focus. But it didn't hurt. Perhaps he needed a soul to hurt. If so, then he was even more grateful to Master Naraku. Master Naraku took away his ability to hurt. Hurt was a bad thing, the crocodile man knew.

The crocodile man slung the machete across his hip and sauntered back down the street. He had to fulfill Master Naraku's orders. And he knew that he couldn't fail.


	33. 33 Tsubaki, Alone

S-S: I would like to inform everybody that this is officially, the final arc of the this story! We're nearing the end folks! I would also like to inform everybody that there is now a toggle bar in the chapters list! Whoohoo! Abuse the toggle bar, my children, abuse it!

I also don't own InuYasha. Although I really do want to.

* * *

The sky was still clouded over, whether from the darkness of the night or the storm clouds brewing over head. A dead wind blew in from the north, just enough to make the cold even more unbearable and to mask scents. These parts of the mountains were deserted, no one lived here or near here or even within a fifty mile radius. The mountains were steep and treacherous at the best of times, and these parts were the worst, all sheer cliff faces and tall drops everywhere, high peaks and endless stretches of forest that were absurdly easy to get lost in forever. And at this time of year, it was snowing.

A thick blanket of white power covered everything. The brown earth did not exist at this time of year, the greens of the forest were little more than patches of color here and there where it had broken through, the snow had enveloped all and turned it to white blankness. Silently, a bird flew away from its perch, disturbed for the first time ever by people entering the mountains.

No one came here. Too dangerous and too haunted. The land up here had been owned by someone for as long as anyone could remember, and that has always been a good enough excuse to keep the few people who try to journey up there away. Of course, the real reason has been that when the Yozeme lived here, when the huge compound at the top of the mountain was in continuous use, they had wanted no one coming to look for them. So when the clan was destroyed, the mighty fortress stayed at the top of the mountain, alone and unused for a hundred years, its existence known by only one, the last Yozeme left alive.

Tsubaki shuddered as the six of them trudged up the mountain, and it wasn't from the bitter cold that she guessed was probably affecting the others. Tsubaki didn't like being here. She really, really didn't and she knew why. This sort of place was dead, and the ghosts were the only ones remaining. If she had to guess, the ghosts wouldn't much like her visiting this place.

They had been forced to abandon the cars at the foot of the mountain, for there were no roads up here and to take a car would be more danger than it was worth. At least Kagome – the only one who was human enough to care about the temperature or be affected by it – had brought a jacket, so she was also spared from freezing in the high mountain air.

"Suki-nee…" Chimaki whispered. The two sisters hadn't strayed more than a foot away from each other the whole time.

Suki looked at her sister and tried to smile, "Don't worry, nee-san. We're almost there. And once we get there it'll be safe."

Chimaki shook her head, "No nee-san… that's not… not… not it…"

Frowning for a moment, Suki asked curiously, "What is it? Is there something wrong? Are you cold? Is there a flaw in our plan?"

Again, Chimaki simply shook her head. She looked at Suki was a muddled clarity in her eyes and said simply, "No. The plan is sound in its logic. However…" she stopped walking and looked back the way they had came, "We were followed."

InuYasha immediately gripped the handle of his blade, "What?!" he demanded, practically growling at Chimaki in his haste to find out an answer. Then he paused, relaxed slightly, and sniffed the air, "How could we be? I don't smell nothing, and there ain't an aura," he said.

"No, there is not aura or smell," Tsubaki spoke up, giving InuYasha a look, "Of course there wouldn't be anything. He is using the Fuyoheki, or at least, he is using whatever pieces of the stone that he has left. Understandably, he has most likely also given shards to his new… puppet," she explained, although she was curious. If there was no smell or aura to sense them by, then how did Chimaki know that they had been followed?

Apparently this thought occurred to InuYasha as well, "Then how do you know that they're after us?' he asked, so curious that the snarl actually was dropped from his tone.

Chimaki gazed all around them, seeming to see all the trees and the sky and the snow all at once, "This place… it's silent. Undisturbed. Peaceful. Naraku is a distortion. Erasing a presence in the way that the Fuyoheki can goes against that peace. Thus, he has created ripples, simply by following us. You have not been able to notice, but the few birds on the mountain flew away, and the wind has changed direction to blow against Naraku."

"How did you…?" InuYasha muttered before he shook his head, as if to physically clear his mind, "You're one freaky demon, you know that? So," he said, looking positively thrilled at the idea of Naraku arriving, "What direction is the bastard coming from?"

Suki frowned at him, "We are not fighting! That was the entire purpose of us going here, so that we could secure a location from which we could fight but also where Chimaki would be safe!"

But there was a crucial flaw in InuYasha's idea that they could fight their way out, Tsubaki noticed. Naraku had an ally now, and they had no idea how powerful their new opponent was or how this unknown would react or fight. Their plan equation had variables that they could not account for. And there was Chimaki. Suki would never stay and fight when her sister was still in danger, so there was no chance of Suki not running, and she was one of their groups' most powerful fighters; if she left, their total power would decrease. So if they stayed, that would be two people cut out of the fight as it is, and as they said earlier, every fighter was needed if they were to kill Naraku without their whole group being killed as well.

However, if there was a way to isolate Naraku, to take out the ally and neutralize them, then there would be a far greater chance of success. If Tsubaki stayed to take down the ally, then there would be one less opponent to get in the way of InuYasha and Suki's fight. Suki would have time to hide Chimaki and then get back to fight, and once the enemy had been neutralized, then Tsubaki could catch up as well, maximizing their chances of victory and minimizing Naraku's. Perfect.

Tsubaki looked up and her eyes met with Chimaki's. She didn't know how, and she wasn't sure how she knew, but in that instant, it was made perfectly clear that Chimaki knew exactly what Tsubaki was planning to do. They had both figured it out at the same time.

"Tsubaki-san," Chimaki said sadly, "You don't know that'll work."

Kagome looked at the two of them, "Tsubaki? Do you have a new plan?"

Slowly, Tsubaki nodded, "You all will go on ahead. I will stay behind to take care of the enemy, the unknown ally of Naraku's. In that time, Suki will be able to get Chimaki to somewhere safe and then rejoin you in time to fight Naraku. After I have taken care of the ally, I will catch up as well. Naraku will be alone, therefore weaker, and if everything goes to plan, you will have four to his one, putting us at a definite advantage."

"No way," Ichida protested, "Tsubaki, you can't go by yourself to defend us! I would be a better choice to stay behind, and if nothing else, let me go with you!"

At the same time, InuYasha shook his head, "Not happening, I should be the one to stay behind. Naraku will stop to fight me, and that will be a much better diversion than if just you stay behind. Plus, Kagome and the Kyoushin could take out the ally alone, so that the Higure can get her sister to safety."

Tsubaki just shook her head, "Ichida, that won't work. You are better suited to be part of the group that takes down Naraku, so you cannot take my place. And if you leave with me, that would be overkill and would limit the other's chances of a successful fight. InuYasha-san, you are a very skilled fighter, but you cannot win against Naraku alone. All you would be doing by taking my place would be killing yourself off, and therefore limiting the other's chances of survival. I am the best fit for this mission. While Ichida and Suki are heavy hitter-style fighters, and InuYasha and Kagome are necessary for the fight by their extreme power and purification abilities, respectively, I am the only one here who has any defensive techniques. I am also a more versatile fighter, giving me a better chance against an enemy that we have never encountered before."

"Tsubaki, there is still the chance that the unknown enemy could be stronger than you, or at least enough to take you down," Kagome protested quietly.

InuYasha crossed his arms stubbornly, "Yeah, I'm still not a fan of this plan either."

"That doesn't matter," Tsubaki said firmly, refusing to chance her plan because it was the only one that would work and more importantly, the only one that they currently had, "I will still stay to kill the new opponent. We are wasting time by arguing, you need to move!"

InuYasha frowned, realizing that she was correct, every moment they spent arguing was a moment of time that they had just lost, "All right. We'll head on," he agreed.

Suki placed her hand on Chimaki's arm and said, "Don't you dare die Tsubaki," she gave her one final pleading look, "Don't you even dare."

The group turned around and hurried up the mountain path, leaving Tsubaki standing by herself in a wide open clearing. All alone. Just her and the snow.

"That's an order!" Suki yelled before they vanished into the distance, her voice muffled yet still piercing in a way that only Suki could accomplish, "Do you hear me, Tsubaki! I forbid you to die!"

And then they were too far away to be heard.

Tsubaki stood alone, a spot of black on the white plain of the mountain, an imperfection in nature. She was entirely alone, just her and this clearing. There was about fifty feet on each side of her, a good length of space to work with and wide enough for her to use some of her ranged attacks. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

She wouldn't fail orders.

She had never failed to follow Suki's orders ever before, not once in her entire life, and she certainly was not going to start now. Besides, she had the utmost confidence that she truly was the best suited to take on the enemy. Even if they had no idea what powers this new person had, even if they were a total blank slate, Tsubaki was still sure that she could pull through and somehow manage to win because she really was the most versatile fighter in their group.

InuYasha was the strongest of course, there was no dispute about that, but if he stayed behind, then Naraku would come for him and the two would just fight to the death until InuYasha infallibly would die. It wasn't as though Tsubaki was underestimating InuYasha, because she wasn't. She simply wasn't underestimating Naraku either.

The snow began to fall.

Tiny white flakes that didn't so much fall as they did float to the ground in a slow lazy manner. Tsubaki breathed in and out, trying to calm her nerves. She couldn't fail Ichida, she couldn't fail Chimaki, and she certainly couldn't fail Suki.

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

_Ash filled the air._

_The seemingly impossible had happened. A single demon had attacked the compound, becoming the sole reason why every single Higure and every Yozeme was now dead. The Kyoushin had been right to abandon the alliance and flee, flee while they still had the chance and before they too fell defending a clan that was corrupted to its very core. There were still four left. Four who did not die. Four who were clever, clever enough to realize the corruption of the clans and to run before they too could be killed. A Yozeme, a Kyoushin, and two Higure. _

_Tsubaki stood in front of the funeral pyre, her child's eyes glazed over as she watched the bodies burn. _

_Demon of human, evil or good, pure or corrupt, the four had all agreed that the dead deserved at the very least a decent funeral. Ichida, Suki, and Tsubaki had returned to the Higure compound afterwards, collected the dead, and created a pyre to burn the remains. It wasn't a pleasant job, but it had to be done. _

_Suki came to stand by Tsubaki, young and still a child in many ways, and yet their new leader, simply because she had lived while her family had died, "I'm sorry," she said quietly._

"_There's no reason to be," Tsubaki replied almost instantly, feeling her emotional defenses spring up again. "I am not sad."_

"_I am," Suki whispered, "I hated the lot of them, but they were still my family. I remember my aunt used to sneak me human sweets when my father wasn't around. There she is now," Suki didn't point because she couldn't stand to look, "burning, just like the rest of them. Of course, that same aunt killed a whole village of innocent humans. Doesn't mean she still didn't care for me and it doesn't erase her sneaking me sweets. Even though all these people still committed horrible acts and still deserved to die, that does not mean that they never committed a kind act and it does not erase those acts. We should still morn them. If only because no one else will."_

_Tsubaki looked down at the wrecked soil mangled with wood and debris, "I still cannot be sad. I am the last ninja of my clan. Ninja do not cry."_

_Suki laughed, a harsh bitter laugh, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Everyone cries sometimes. And besides," she turned to Tsubaki and smiled, "You're not a ninja."_

"_But my clan-" Tsubaki protested, feeling confused._

"_Your clan isn't you," Suki cut her off, "You might be a ninja by profession, but in your heart, you're not. You know what Tsubaki? I think that you're a samurai."_

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

And if there was one thing that Tsubaki had learned over the years, it was that samurai certainly did cry.

* * *

"Will Tsubaki be okay?' Ichida asked quietly as the group hurried through the snow, unable to run but still able to go fast enough to matter.

Suki nodded firmly, not even daring to consider the possibility that she wouldn't, "Of course."

Kagome looked down to her right. A few feet away, the snowy ground vanished, cutting off into a steep ravine that dropped down a few hundred feet before an outcropping of rock would jut out and then a few more feet would be steep drop before the next section of rock. In the far distance, she could see where Tsubaki was, a tiny speck of black amidst an ocean of white. And then another tiny speck moved towards Tsubaki.

Game on.

The group hurried through the pass, breaking through the thin winding trail and coming to a section of dense woods, a forest forming an almost impassable barrier. Yet the compound was on the other side of these woods, so there had to be a way to get from one end to the other, and that was the only way to get there.

"InuYasha," Kagome warned, feeling something blocking their way.

He nodded, "Yeah. There's a barrier."

* * *

Tsubaki looked up at the figure slowly approaching her.

Soon this would all be over and she would be speeding up to rejoin Suki and InuYasha, soon they would be on their path to killing Naraku.

And then the figure emerged from the mist and every single foolhardy hope and dream and wish plummeted into her stomach as Tsubaki's idiotic and asinine plan flew right out the window. Her eyes went wide and she felt that her limbs had begun to quiver despite her solid will. It had been so certain that Naraku would go for InuYasha that she hadn't even worked that into her equation. She hadn't even considered… It seemed as though her reading his mind had really annoyed him.

Across the clearing from Tsubaki, Naraku smirked.

Tsubaki was as good as dead.


	34. 34 Enduring Your Worst Nightmare

S-S: So last chapter was a bit of a cliff hanger, wasn't it? And to all of you dying to know what happens to Tsubaki, well… you'll have to wait until next chapter!

I also encourage you all to go back and re-read the last chapter, as I changed a few mistakes that I feel really made a difference.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

"A barrier, huh?" InuYasha muttered, "Doesn't look like it's intended to stop us from getting through."

Suki stepped forward to the line of trees, "It's not," she said, her voice dark, "I've seen this before. A demon clan from Australia. I don't know what the barrier does, but you can pass safely through it. The real danger will be the traps that Naraku has laid for us inside the forest. The barrier might only make us sleepy or confused."

"Either way," InuYasha said, walking up to the barrier, "It's not as if we have a choice. The compound is on the other side of the forest, and as soon as the Yozeme is done, that's where she'll head. We go through the barrier."

"Right," Kagome replied with a nod, walking up behind InuYasha.

When InuYasha walked through the barrier, the space around him rippled, and then he was swallowed up by the fake image of the forest. Then Kagome passed through. Then Ichida. Then Suki and Chimaki, their hands grasped firmly as they passed through the barrier.

* * *

And then Kagome was standing in the dark forest, the ground covered with snow and shadows, her hands still tightly gripping her bow. But everyone was gone.

She was entirely alone.

"Suki! Chimaki! Ichida! InuYasha!" she called, looking all around her, turning around frantically, glancing behind her to find there wasn't anything there at all, no barrier, no clearing, no mountainside, just more of the same forest. Where was she?! She had to be inside the barrier, she could still feel it all around her, like a huge cover of aura that blanketed the area she was in. So if she was in the right place, then where was everyone else?

"InuYasha!"

* * *

"Damn it!" InuYasha swore, looking all around him. Everyone was gone! They had just vanished, as soon as he entered the barrier! And now he was in some weird part of the forest, a part that didn't look like the rest of the mountain. The trees were different, and he could smell fresher and more humid air, like it was spring or summer. And there was no snow.

"InuYasha."

He turned around as fast as he could, because he knew that voice, he knew that voice better than he knew his own ever. "Kagome!" he cried, relieved. Even if none of the others survived or they had all been lost, he was still glad that Kagome was safe and sound. She just had to be. But Kagome looked different. So different.

She was younger than she was now, as young as she had been five hundred years ago. And her clothes, those had changed to, back into that green and white school uniform that she used to wear when she went traveling with them. Her bow wasn't the new one he had given her either, it was the older one of hers. Kagome looked exactly as she had the last time she was in the feudal era. Five hundred years ago. And she was crying.

"InuYasha," she said softly, tears running down her face, "They're dead," she sobbed, "Miroku, Sango, even Shippo. All dead."

InuYasha gently wrapped his arms around her, and she clung to him as she cried. "It's all right Kagome," he said, trying to comfort her, "They're at peace."

She still continued to sob, "You left me alone! I was so alone, all alone, for so long. Don't ever leave me alone like that again!"

"I won't," he promised, hugging her tightly, "I won't ever leave you alone again."

* * *

Ichida was alone.

Amongst the flames.

The fire was burning everywhere, an eternal fire that was too huge to be explained and too devastating to have any point. It ate away at the wooden building, licking like deadly tongues at the wooden walls and destroying the floor and turning the roof to charred timber that threatened to fall at any second. There was just too much fire, too much destruction. No hope of water, no chance of salvation. The fire would simply burn everything and Ichida still wouldn't understand the point of it all, not even when she herself turned to ash.

A heavy beam of wood collapsed, falling onto the flames, narrowly missing her left shoulder, where it was soon devoured by fire. Ichida couldn't move, she was trapped on the floor, half the building fallen over on her torso, pinning her down to the ground while she waited to be burnt. She stretched her hand out, reaching towards the two figures standing in the distance.

The two weren't moving, they just stood there. The flames didn't touch them, they weren't part of the calamity, they weren't affected by it at all. And they didn't move, not even when Ichida screamed. They just watched as the fire drew closer to Ichida's body. Why didn't they move?! Why didn't they help her!?

"HAHAUE! CHICHIUE!" Ichida screamed, begging them to move, reaching her one free arm towards them, trying to grab at them before they could vanish. "HELP ME!"

Why didn't they move!?

Didn't they care that she was going to die!

The flames began to burn and Ichida cried, "Oh god… HELP ME! MOTHER! FATHER! WHY DON'T YOU HELP ME!?"

* * *

Suki was floating.

Freezing wet water swirled all around her, filling her lungs with fluid, soaking her all the way to her soul. The bitter chill froze her bones to ice, biting, piercing like the fiercest blade, a burn from the cold that was so extreme that Suki could almost mistake it for the same burn that one got from heat. Only there was a difference, if there had been heat, she wouldn't hear her bones shaking and shivering so much that she could almost shatter into tiny shards.

She choked out a breath of air, the tiny bubbles forcing their way out of her body and floating away, off into the water, the endless stretch of water. Her clothes and her hair floated around her, everything so wet that she thought she would never be truly dry again.

Chimaki was burning.

Heat, burning and blinding, scorched her body, charring her skin and flesh and turning her hair into a candlestick. The fire of a pitiless sun over a desert poured into her body, filling her with a heat that refused to disappear or lessen. Just endless heat that seemed to extreme to ever possibly exist. Her feet were among coals and she had already begun to lose any feeling in her toes as the skin on her feet turned black and shriveled.

She felt her airways constrict against the flames, no oxygen to breathe, nothing to breathe that wasn't smoke or fire or ash from something that had burned before. The unbearable pain burned like frostbite as it turned her body into a pyre.

The water pressed against Suki's chest, a great pressure that she couldn't shake off, something so heavy that it would crush her. This was suffocating, endless, unbearable, an ice worse than anything. The lack of oxygen in her blood screaming into her mind, a loud protest as her brain sent signals to her heart. She was dying.

But her hand, was wonderfully warm.

The fire consumed Chimaki's body, her flesh turning into an oven set on high and her hands and feet beginning to vanish into the fire. She choked on fire and breathed it in and then spat out ash, as if she was drowning in her own burnt remains. Her heart feebly protested and beat louder, but it was pointless. She was dying.

But her hand, was wonderfully cold.

And still, Suki was smiling.

Chimaki was smiling.

The two still held each other's hand as they endured the other's worst nightmares.

* * *

Kagome wandered.

She didn't know where she was going, she couldn't see too far ahead of her, the snow turning everything into a maze. She couldn't even be sure if this was the same forest that she had walked into. It looked like it of course, looked exactly the same, but there was no InuYasha, no Ichida, no Chimaki, no Suki. Where had the gone? It was as if they had simply vanished into non-being.

A shiver went through her body at the thought of her being alone forever. She wouldn't be alone for much longer, she would come across the others, they must have gotten lost. They had been pulled into a trap of Naraku's probably, and the others were just busy or something.

Suki had said, after all, that she didn't know exactly what the barrier did. Maybe it just split them up? Maybe they were all simply in different sections of the forest and they would find each other again in just a minute. Maybe InuYasha was right behind that tree and he just couldn't see her!? He wasn't behind the tree.

"InuYasha!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound.

The noise echoed off the trees and off the silence, a thousand cries of his name repeating in Kagome's ears over and over again. Then they faded and the silence returned.

Kagome sighed and kept walking slowly forward, her boots pushing through the snow.

Maybe she didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she had to keep moving. There was no way that she was going to find her friends just by staying still and doing nothing. She had to move on. If she got to the end of the barrier, there might be a way to break it and release InuYasha and the others. It was a long shot, and there was likely to be a demon at the end of this forest, but it was the only chance that she had.

Her head… she felt sleepy.

What was wrong with her, why did she feel as though she was going to pass out?

She couldn't fall asleep, not now, not while she was lost and alone and almost certainly in a trap-

Kagome's eyes fluttered closed and she fell to the ground, the snow settling around her body.

_She opened her eyes._

_There was nothing._

_Her mind? Why was she here? She hadn't fallen asleep, unless, just now…? But what was going on, why was she here? Was this the Voice, was this a trap of Naraku's? Was this one of the traps that Suki said would be set up in the forest?_

"_Hey."_

_She turned around. There was no one there. "Is this… Voice-san?" she asked tentatively. _

"_Yup, that's me," the voice replied. _

_The voice had brought her here? "What am I doing here?" Kagome demanded, "Look, I'm really sorry, but I have to get back to the real world, there's something really important that I have to do. I need to get back out there and find my friends! I know that you can't know what's happening out in the real world, but it's important!"_

"_I know," it replied simply._

_Kagome paused and frowned in confusion, "I don't understand. What is it that you know?"_

_The voice sounded as if it sighed, "Something happened to me. Naraku killed me. My mind wandered a border between this world an' the next. That was how I could slip into dreams, ya know. But now… I aint sure what, and I'm even less sure if I wanna know, but something happened to my body."_

"_Like what?" she asked, concerned._

"_I'm moving on," the voice replied, "I'll rest, in whatever peace there is that I deserve. Don't be sad for me, cause I know ya will."_

"_How can I not be sad!" Kagome cried, wanting for the first time to see the voice, if only so that she could comfort it, "You're my friend! I care for my friends, and if one of them dies, I will be sad, there's nothing you can say that will stop me from being sad over the death of a friend."_

_The voice said sadly, "That's wrong. I'm not you're friend. I'm only a ghost of a consciousness that you chose to befriend. I'm nothin', and I've been nothin' this whole time. It's only…" the voice hesitated, "When something happened to my body, there was something that I remembered. And I need you to promise that you won't forget it like I did."_

"_I won't forget!" Kagome promised, "I won't forget it if it's important to you!"_

"_Before I go," the voice replied, "I want you to know my name. It's Bryni."_

And then Kagome woke up.


	35. 35 Bushido, the Samurai's Code

S-S: And now we find out what happened to Tsubaki. Because I was mean last chapter apparently.

I don't own InuYasha. I own Tsubaki though.

* * *

Tsubaki's hands fell lamely to her sides, her mind so desperately confused by what she was seeing. This wasn't supposed to have happened, it hadn't been an option when she thought this through, she always thought everything through and she always relied on her cognitive abilities so why was she wrong now when it mattered the most? Naraku was supposed to have gone after InuYasha, he was supposed to have sent the other enemy after her, he wasn't supposed to be here!

Naraku smirked, "What, no hello for an old ally?" he asked snidely.

"I am not and never was your ally!" Tsubaki yelled, her fingers desperately reaching for the pouch that contained her balls of metal. "You were nothing more than an idiot then for not seeing through my lies! Even if you did brainwash me into following your orders, you still made a mistake! That shows that you are weak, you are not as powerful as you pretend, you can be defeated!"

His smirk only grew, as if he was in on a secret that she was not, "All right," he said slowly, "Perhaps I did believe your lies. You are after all, an exceptionally good liar. Why don't we make a little agreement?"

She frowned, "An agreement?"

"Yes," Naraku replied, "Let's not lie to each other this time."

Tsubaki's hand dropped, curiosity taking hold, "Why on earth would you not lie to me this time? Is there some sort of offer that you would care to make?"

"Of course," he said, as if offended that she would dare to think otherwise, "It would be a waste to kill one who could be such a loyal servant. I have a proposal to make," when she remained silent, he continued, "I knew that you were coming here, but I do not know why. You tell me that, and I will let you live. How does that sound?"

Tsubaki bit out a vicious smile, "You are still an idiot," she spat, "Of course, I will admit that reading my mind in my moment of mental weakness was a good idea, and you executed it brilliantly. That is as far as your minimal talent stretches. You honestly think that I would believe you would let me live? Even if you did by some chance spare my life, you would brainwash me again and send me out to kill my friends again. I will never betray them!"

Naraku glared at her, his casual smile falling from his face, "Final chance," he snarled furiously, "Your choice."

Tsubaki stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of metal, "DIE!" she screamed.

In a flick of motion, a thousand sharp blades sliced through the air. Naraku jumped to the side, the metal piercing the snow a second after he vanished. "You will die here!" he declared, thick wooden roots erupting from the ground.

"I know," she whispered.

Tsubaki kicked off from the ground, leaping towards Naraku. She tossed a ball of metal into the air and punched it. Like liquid, the steel formed around her hand into a sharp gauntlet covered with blades. She dropped elegantly onto the ground and sent a fast punch to Naraku's chest. In a flash, he had stepped backwards to avoid it.

The ground beneath Tsubaki's feet rumbled, and a root shot up from the earth to spear her through the gut. She reared her fist back and punched the earth away, a thousand spikes of metal exploding from her arm at the moment of contact. More roots immediately tried to strike her. With a dancer's grace, she stepped around them all, her arms flickering out at random intervals to deliver powerful blows accented with bursts of metal spikes.

Naraku pushed himself backwards, leaving Tsubaki to fight off the roots. This was getting annoying.

The girl could create more metal at will, so long as she had some to begin with, and there was metal everywhere now. While there was no fear of being sliced at, for his heart could never be damaged by one such as her, it was still a nuisance and there was the odd chance that she could get lucky at hit something important. Now, if there was a way to get rid of her source of metal…

He wondered if metal could burn.

Time to test out a little theory of his.

All of a sudden, the roots around Tsubaki collapsed and fell to the ground as useless hunks of earth. Her arms had become almost entirely encased in metal, thick plates of it covering her shoulders and blades wherever blades could be fit and some in places where they could not. She stepped towards Naraku and punched out her arms.

The metal casing flew towards Naraku, a deadly missile in the shape of Tsubaki's arm equipped with a thousand blades. Instead of dodging this time, Naraku tried a new tactic. He held up his hands and let the projectile hit.

From where he was damaged, a cloud of poison miasma spread through the air. There was the hiss and burn of it destroying something, and to his joy, the metal began to melt.

He pulled back the miasma and tiny useless shards of glass fell to the ground and were lost in the snow.

Tsubaki's eyes went wide and she jumped backwards, crouching low to the ground as she thought. How could he melt her metal?! But of course, he must have planned this out, the damn trickster. She couldn't use the glass, it wasn't her power, and she would soon run out of metal at this rate. Most of it had been used to power that punch attack, she had about three balls left and she couldn't waste it, now that she knew he could destroy her metal and prevent her from using it at all with something as simple as his miasma.

"Out maneuvered again, little Yozeme," Naraku said patronizingly, "Perhaps you really should have accepted my offer. Didn't think of that, did you?"

Tsubaki gritted her teeth and created a long sword out of bronze, "I told you!" she yelled, "I would never betray my friends!"

With that, she practically flew towards him.

The two foes engaged in an intense fight of melee conflict, Tsubaki slicing and hacking away with her blade and Naraku punching at her whenever it suited him. He was toying with her. She would make him take her seriously.

She raised her blade to the sky, "Hasaki Senkou!" she screamed, and brought her blade down.

Exploding from the edge of the blade, a thousand daggers bursting forward through the air. Naraku frowned as he saw the sheer amount of metal flying towards him. If the girl was capable of creating that, then there was no wonder why she had been labeled as her clan's prodigy. Of course, that only made him regret even more that his brainwashing hadn't been able to hold. She would have been a valuable asset.

The metal met a solid wall of miasma.

The weapons sizzled and burnt and turned to glass, falling into the snow and becoming lost in the whiteness. Naraku picked up a glass blade and twirled it around in the palm of his hand. The weapon of his enemy turned against her. If nothing else, he always had a taste for the theatrical. "You are weak," he said coldly, "InuYasha could have hit me by now."

"And you are a pathetic half-demon who gains power by leaching off objects that do not belong to you!" she cried, her hand twisting on the handle of her blade.

With her left hand, she grabbed a tiny sphere of gold and one of silver, pressing the two onto the bronze blade and letting them melt into the surface. The blade seemed to pulse, and the gold and silver wrapped themselves around the existing metal before setting into the blade. In her hands, the blade changed again, a long and vicious looking thing with three stripes of the different metals running along the surface.

Gripping the handle tightly, she settled into a wide stance and held the blade aloft, "Sansai no Ken!" she screamed, running towards Naraku and preparing to strike.

He smirked and stepped to the side. Her moves were becoming wild, it was now easy to see where she would strike from and how she would step as she hit. But then as her blade hit nothing but air, her hand pulsed and the metal blade suddenly sliced off Naraku's arm.

Naraku looked at the stumped where his arm had been and frowned. In a second of concentration, the limb grew back. He glanced back up at Tsubaki with an angry glare in his eyes.

She was holding onto the blade with both hands, and under her guidance, the metal seemed to be liquid, moving like a snake even when stationary. In a flash, she struck again, this time coming at him from the right. He moved the left and was hit from behind, though this time his eyes were fast enough and aware enough to catch the whip-like motion of the metal blade.

He jumped backwards away from the metal. So it seemed as though this blade was different. Unlike the other weapons she had pulled out, the one seemed to remain in a permanent stage of transfiguration, never stabilizing and constantly able to change form and size. That would definitely be a powerful weapon against a normal enemy, yet against him it was nothing more than annoying at best and silly at worst. He wondered how much concentration it must take to pull off that sort of attack and grinned at the thought of how much it would weaken the Yozeme.

Tsubaki set her face in stone and struck again. This time she would hit his heart!

Naraku didn't move and the blade went right through him. Tsubaki's eyes widened in fear. He could have dodged that, she knew that to move out of the way would have been an easy task for one as powerful as him and the fact that he allowed himself to get hit was worrisome indeed. The last time he had let himself get hit he had neutralized her weapons!

She tried to tug the metal out with both her hands and her mind but the blade only gave a feeble jerk before remaining still and turning to glass as the poison in Naraku's body destroyed it forever.

Using the glass weapon he had stolen from her, he hit a powerful blow to her face, sending her flying backwards and her blood to spill from her cheek.

Tsubaki skidded to a stop and hurried to push herself off the snow, coughing from the physical force behind that punch. Damn him. He was too strong. And she was out of metal balls. She pushed herself up and crouched in the ground, grimacing from the pain in her cheek. Her hand went to her face to inspect the damage. The gash went to her ear and fresh blood was still pouring from it, but he must have shattered her cheek bones as well. Not to mention the damage she had taken from being thrown.

"I must admit," Naraku said, taking a step closer, "That last move was rather pretty."

Tsubaki's eyes caught the movement of the glass sword in his hands, the sheen that was so like metal but not close enough to count. She wasn't done yet!

Her hands slammed into the ground and she pressed down through the snow until her fingers dug into the soil. She could feel all the metals in the soil and they were now hers to command! A spike of metal emerged from the ground and stabbed Naraku through the leg, a plate of iron flew towards his head and buried itself in his shoulder. She wasn't done yet…

He frowned and plunged his hand into the soil as the weapons imbedded in his body fell harmlessly out of his flesh, now glass. From his hand, the earth turned purple and died. He was turning every metal in the ground into glass! Tsubaki gasped and snatched her hands out of the earth before he could get to her as well.

She scrambled backwards and then coughed out a sticky glob of bright red blood.

Her eyes looked down. The glass blade was protruding from her stomach.

Tsubaki's shaking hands ripped the glass out of her body and threw the weapon to the side. She had to think! She had to do something! She couldn't-!

Unless…

She sighed.

"I'm sorry Suki," she whispered, hoping that the other girl could hear her.

It seemed that for the first time in her entire life, Tsubaki was going to defy orders.

She dug her hands into the earth again, wincing as the miasma began to eat at her flesh but enduring it because it was so very necessary. Naraku frowned, picking up another fallen blade of glass and walking unbearably slowly towards Tsubaki.

The ground began to rumble and shake, like an earthquake only worse because this one promised death. Huge pillars of metal emerged from the ground, standing twenty feet high and forming a cage made of steel bars all around the two of them. Naraku simply released his miasma and the pillars turned to glass.

But they remained standing. A cage of glass.

"You just used up every ounce of metal on this pathetic mountain and I doubt that your reach extends farther than that," Naraku observed coldly, "And now you are entirely out of metal and strength. That was a pointless move."

Tsubaki removed her burnt hands from the ground and she reached into her pocket, "You're wrong," she stated quietly, "I just had to make sure that you wouldn't go anywhere."

She pulled out a small faded yellow scroll, tied with a thick black thread. In all her years, she had always hoped that she would never have to use it, hoped that there would never be a situation that called for her to use it. But this was her fate. It was Ichida's fate as well. Bound by fate. But… as strange as the thought was, Tsubaki didn't mind this fate. It was to save everyone that she cared about. The fear of the object was gone, replaced by a calm unlike anything that she had ever felt before.

Naraku stepped forward and raised his blade, "There is no point in tricks, Yozeme. You are just a pathetic ninja who is out of metal. Nothing more. Your friends will not see your last efforts to remain brave, they will not even see you die on the edge of my blade. Accept your fate."

"I have," Tsubaki said, "And you are still wrong," she looked him in the eye, "It doesn't matter that my friends won't see me die. It doesn't matter at all. Because I died for them. You are so wrong that you don't even know it."

He frowned, "What do you mean?" he was approaching her, a little too close for Tsubaki's liking.

In a flash, she untied the string and opened the scroll.

There was nothing more than thick blocks of writing on the scroll, but that was all there needed to be. A final spell. Tsubaki placed both her hands on the scroll, wincing as the words began to spread like inky ants over her skin and up her arms. And in return, she poured something invisible into the scroll to use it.

She could feel her blood increase and her self-preservation instincts get shut off, and she coughed out more bright red into the snow, to Naraku's amusement. He thought that she was weak, useless, out of tricks.

"You are wrong," Tsubaki repeated, her voice louder, "Zinc. Copper. Cobalt. Potassium. Magnesium," her eyes met his in a firm glare, "Iron." There was so much blood now, her bones beginning to protest, and her lungs filling with blood, she was drowning in it.

"And," she gritted out, just because she needed to prove him wrong, just because she had to and just because she could still hear Suki's voice from so long ago echoing in her head, "I am not a ninja."

Naraku paused, his blade raised in preparation to strike.

Tsubaki smiled, "I am a samurai."

And then her entire body was ripped apart from the inside as she turned everything in her to metal blades.

* * *

Hasaki Senkou: Edge of the blade flash

Sansai no Ken: Blade of three calamities/powers


	36. 36 We All Burn the Same

S-S: Sorry for killing off Tsubaki! If you don't like character death… sorry. _Really_ sorry. No seriously, _so very very _sorry.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

Ichida lay in the flames, slowly becoming part of the inferno herself, burning and dying and turning into fire, watching helplessly as her parents watched her become a living torch.

Why didn't they move?

Why didn't they help her?

They were her parents, weren't they? Weren't they supposed to help her and look after her and take care of her? That was the point of family, wasn't it? To stay together and help each other in their times of need. Only… Ichida had left her family. She remembered now.

There was an attack on the compound. Suki and Chimaki were still there, trying to get out and trying to escape as the place burned. Tsubaki was there as well, her family fighting InuYasha to the death. InuYasha was a faceless person in Ichida's memories, a person she had never seen and had only heard of, but she knew enough to know that the three clans were dead and gone already. Ichida had been trying to run to her friends, get back to them and help them. But she had had a choice. The Kyoushin were leaving, they weren't going to fight and they weren't going to die.

Ichida had known, even then as a child, that she could have stayed with her parents and been safe and unharmed. She had not. She had ran into the flames and the fire of the burning compound and found her friends. And she had never regretted it. That was the point of friends. They were more of a family to her now than her blood clan was, and Ichida should have realized that a long time ago.

"You can't leave me," She whispered, placing her burnt hands on the ground, her fingers more ash than skin but becoming whole again as she tried to push herself up. "I left you long ago."

"That was my choice!" she screamed, throwing the heavy wooden beams off her which now seemed so light and weightless that she was surprised that she had been unable to do it before, "I _chose_ to leave you! I _chose_ to burn! I don't need you to save me, I can do it myself!" she was standing now, still burning and still on fire but that didn't matter anymore because she knew that even though it hurt and even though it burned, she still belonged in the fire. Everyone that she cared about was in the fire and she would never leave them.

"_We will never help you. You will never receive sympathy. You will be killed if you try and return." _The voice didn't seem to come from her parents but from everywhere at once and that just make Ichida more angry at them, "_There is no safety for you. You will burn."_

Ichida felt the fire grow and swell as she stood in it, "I know!" she yelled at them, "And I still choose to burn! Because I won't be alone anymore! I will have friends! If I have to burn as well then so what!?"

And then her parents turned to wood and the flames and the compound all vanished.

Ichida was lying face down in the snow, cold wet snow that was so relieving and such a welcome change from the burning hot fire of before. Deep heavy breaths racked her chest as she struggled to control what was soon to be a full on panic attack. Her hands dug into the snow and she realized that she was covered in roots.

When had the roots gotten there? There hadn't been any roots before, there had just been snow. Was she inside the barrier? Oh, that was right! They had tried to pass a barrier that Naraku had set up, Tsubaki had stayed behind to take out some ally, and then they had gotten separated. Was this one of the traps that Suki had warned them about? Speaking of Suki, where were the others?

Ichida yanked the vines off her, not caring if she destroyed them, just wanting to get them off her as fast as possible because they felt like they would creep into her soul if given the chance.

She stood up and looked around at the white emptiness, "Hello!?" she called out, cupping her hands around her mouth to make a louder noise, "Hello! Anyone there!?" she turned around and kept looking with her lamp-like demonic eyes, "Suki! Chimaki! Kagome! InuYasha! Anybody!"

She ran a few paces in front and called, "_Anyone!?"_

"Ichida!?" someone cried in the distance.

Ichida turned to where the sound was coming from and ran, "Yeah, it's me!" she cried back, skidding to a stop a second later.

It was Kagome, alone and by herself, "I'm so glad I found you!" she cried, looking passively terrified and now relieved, "I was so sure that I was all alone, there was no one around and... I don't know how long I've been here, but I don't think that it's been very long," she glanced around them, "This place is giving me the creeps. I think that it's trying to make it seem as though it's been a very long time."

Ichida nodded, a relived smile lighting up her face, "Yeah, this whole place is a trap. I'm so glad I found you! There were these weird vine things and I _think_ that they were causing this illusion because I was trapped in like… a nightmare or something. I broke out though, just a moment ago, but I think that this is what Suki was talking about. You know, how there would probably be traps in the forest? I think that the barrier split us up and then we were all caught in those vine things and started to hallucinate."

Kagome frowned, "That's weird, I didn't see anything. I was here this whole time." She paused, and it looked as though she wasn't really there for a moment, remembering a half-forgotten thought, "I think I've been in this trap before."

"Naraku's used this trap _before_?" Ichida asked, "Then where's InuYasha and Chimaki and Suki? Where did they go?"

Kagome thought, "Last time… I don't remember…" she shook her head as if to clear her mind, "I'm sorry. I wish I knew more. If I have been in this trap before, then InuYasha should be fine," she turned to face the direction opposite where they had come from, "We need to get out of these woods. Before another nasty trap comes along."

Ichida nodded in agreement. And the next trap… they might not be able to get out of it.

* * *

"_This is your worst nightmare."_

"_You're terrified of drowning, you have been ever since Chichiue held you head down in a bucket… what a horrible person. We were only twenty then."_

"_You're terrified of burning. You always talk about how you're not afraid to burn to keep me safe, but I know that the fear still lingers inside."_

"_I'll always keep you safe."_

"_The least I can do is endure this for you."_

"_I'll endure it… forever."_

And then everything shattered.

The illusion was ripped away like the fake thing it was, torn aside and discarded in favor of the cold reality.

Suki and Chimaki were standing in the snow, their arms and legs wrapped in thick roots that hadn't been there before, still holding the other's hand. As soon as they opened their eyes, the roots wilted and fell off them, landing with soft patters into the snow and seeming to disappear.

"Are you…" Suki muttered, pulling her sister into a tight hug, relief spreading through on as soon as she realized that her sister was truly and honestly okay, "Alright? You were burning… your hand was so hot, like fire… that was my nightmare."

Chimaki shuddered against Suki as she grew slowly accustomed to the cold, "It was. And you were drowning, freezing, you… you couldn't breathe. That was _my_ nightmare." She glanced down at the roots that were wriggling away from them like wax from a flame, "I think… this was the trap you mentioned. One set by Naraku."

Suki pulled back and observed the fast-vanishing roots with more than a little distaste, "Yeah, it must have been. Traps you in your own worst nightmare, only… harder to wake up from. So why was I drowning?"

"Our hands," Chimaki said softly, "We were still holding hands when we entered the barrier. The trap must have confused our nightmares and given them to the wrong one. That was why I burned and you drowned. I think that was to our advantage actually. I would have been caught by fear if I had been forced to drown again."

Her red eyes began to water and Suki whispered, "I'll never let that happen to you, not ever again, I promise it. You'll never have to drown. If anyone tries to hurt you I'll kill them, or drown them."

"That way," Chimaki said quietly, "That's the way out." Suki nodded, accepting her sister's judgment without a thought. They turned and began to walk towards what they assumed to be the way out, the cold snow crunching beneath their feet.

Suki kept smiling, and she kept holding onto Chimaki's hand.

"Nee-san," Chimaki said, stopping, "There's a ghost here. A ghost and a body."

Suki frowned in concern, unsure as to what she could be talking about. "A ghost?" she asked curiously. There was a ghost here? Was that another one of Naraku's twisted schemes or… well, there had been mention of a body, so was this something to do with corpse re-animation? That was disgusting. Naraku just kept falling to new lows, finding new ways to create followers that would do his bidding, and when the experiment of his failed, then he would simply try again.

Chimaki nodded reluctantly, "The ghost is Kagome's friend. The body is not. The ghost and the body were once the same, but they aren't anymore," she shuddered uncontrollably, "Nee-san!"

Suki turned her head to look and immediately stepped up to defend her sister, "Who are you?!" she yelled at the figure.

It was a man, a demon that neither of them had ever seen before. He had messy yellow hair and tan skin, a pattern of crocodile scales on one arm and up the side of his face. His eyes were different colors too, one yellow and the other an out of place baby blue that did nothing but clash with the yellow. He wore worn clothes, like that of an adventurer, and in his right hand he held a sharpened machete. "I serve Naraku," he said in a dead voice.

"You're dead," Chimaki said simply.

His eyes snapped out of their dead reverie and he suddenly fixed a firm gaze on Chimaki. The youkai aura around him picked up, like he was trying to use a fighting technique. But he didn't move. "Yes," he confirmed, and the youkai dissipated as his eyes dropped away from Chimaki's.

Chimaki's hand tightened around Suki's. "Nee-san?" Suki asked, worried, "Are you all right? That aura, did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, "I am fine, Suki-nee. Don't worry about me," she faced the demon, "Are you this new ally of Naraku's that we have heard about? The one created from an absorbed mind and a dead body?"

But he said nothing.

And then he vanished.

Suki's blood pounded in her ear. Something was wrong, so very desperately wrong and because of this wrong, someone was going to get hurt and she had the most horrible feeling that she knew who. If he had said that he was Naraku's new ally… then who was fighting Tsubaki? "Chimaki-nee…" she whispered, "Tsubaki-!"

Chimaki's face paled and she grabbed her sister's hand, tugging them through the forest at speeds humans could only dream of going at, plowing through the snow. "Hurry!" Chimaki cried, and they ran faster.

Suki ran as fast as she could, the fear beginning to grip her. This wasn't supposed to have happened, this couldn't have happened. They just needed to find Tsubaki and make sure that she was okay, that she had won her battle, that she was on her way right now to rejoin them. That they hadn't made a huge mistake and let Tsubaki fend off Naraku alone. Suki knew what she would do if that had happened. She had seen it happen before, she knew what those scrolls did and she wanted to be rid of them, although she knew that such a thing would never happen.

She jumped over a heavy boulder and tugged her sister along faster through the forest. Tsubaki had to be safe. She just had to be. Suki had given her orders, hadn't she? Tsubaki never disobeyed orders, she would never and she had never and that was why she would be fine, because Suki had ordered her not to die.

The two came to a stop as the forest thinned and then vanished altogether.

They were standing on the edge of the mountain, the sheer cliff face a terrifying drop of god-knows how many feet. But below them, where they could see, was where they had left Tsubaki.

Chimaki just stared, "… nee-san…" she choked out, "Oh god… Tsubaki…"

Two auras approached quickly, and a moment later, Ichida and Kagome burst out from the trees. "Suki! Chimaki!" Ichida smiled when she saw the two Higure twins there, safe and unharmed, and ran over to hug them. Then she stopped. The smile slid off her face.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, walking up to the two of them, looking over the edge to see what they could see. "Oh no…" she cried, "Tsubaki…"

Below them, there was a huge ruined cage of metal turned glass, blood everywhere. The blood had stained the snow red and there was no white left to be called snow, it had all been mixed with metal and blood until it was unrecognizable. All around the clearing, embedded in trees, shattered the glass, stuck out of the snow, were metal blades. Thousands of them. So much metal that it couldn't possible exist. And Suki and Ichida and Chimaki… they had seen this sort of metal before, they knew what Tsubaki had done, they had seen it be done before. They knew what it meant.

In the center of the destruction, there was a bloodied scroll, and a few strands of dark black hair wrapped around a knife.


	37. 37 The Ruined Scroll

S-S: Yeah, there was a good reason why Chimaki and Suki ran into Bryni, and it wasn't just so that they could realize that Tsubaki was dead.

I don't own InuYasha. Clearly.

* * *

Down, hidden in the snow and by the blood and the metal, a lump of flesh pulsed.

Slowly, and then gaining speed, a body began to form around the twisted and distorted thing that someone had called a heart. And then Naraku was whole again. He stood up, looking at the destruction that the silly Yozeme girl had caused. It had been futile of course, there was no way that she could have killed him, but all the same, it was bothersome. At least his regeneration speed was exceptional, so it did not take him long for his body to restore itself.

His mind flickered to what that resurrected crocodile demon had been up to. Good, he had met with the twin Higures and now… was on his way to delay InuYasha. The hanyou was the biggest thorn in Naraku's side, and it would be very beneficial if InuYasha was wounded when he finally rejoined the others.

Up on the ridge, Ichida was shaking.

She saw Naraku down there, living and fine while Tsubaki was… Tsubaki was…

"We need to get InuYasha," Kagome gasped, half turning back to run for the woods, "He's the only one who can stop Naraku." She began to break out into a run, but then there was a hand on her shoulder holding her back and she was forced to stop.

Suki shook her head, "InuYasha will break out in an instant. He's probably just facing a delay. Besides… by the time you find him… it'll be too late." Her head was shrouded in her purple hair, her expression cut off from the others, but her shoulders were shaking with the tell-tale look of one who was trying very hard not to cry, "And besides…" she looked up to glare at the distant figure of Naraku, "We'll need your arrows. You're the second best shot on our team after all. Well… first best I suppose… Tsubaki… cheated."

"She deserved to be best…" Kagome murmured, reaching to her quiver of arrows. "Okay," she said quietly, "InuYasha will show. I'll just wait for him." The bitterness hit her. She always waited for InuYasha and he always waited for her. One of these days they would have to stop waiting for each other.

Ichida's clawed hands began to tighten into fists. "I'm gonna kill him…" she muttered, "Suki… get Chimaki somewhere safe. I'll buy time."

Suki's eyes widened in fear, because that had been the exact same reason that they had sent Tsubaki for and that had been so… "No Ichida!" she cried, but it was too late.

In a flash, Ichida had jumped off the cliff and was streaking towards Naraku.

She landed on the snow, her fangs bared, "Damn you Naraku!" she screamed, tensed to strike.

Naraku smirked at her. Just like the Yozeme girl, this demon too would fall. They just kept crawling out of the woodwork like roaches, "Your friend was pathetic," he said lightly, "Such a waste of talent, unable to kill or even injure me. I doubt that you'll fare better."

Ichida snarled and pulled out a small scroll with a dancing tiger on it, "You know what this is?" she asked, her body shaking from barely controlled fear. Naraku frowned. Oh he knew what that was, the Yozeme girl had pulled out a scroll just the same. That had been a spell of sorts that turned the body's metals into a weapon and killed her. How did the Kyoushin girl have one similar?

On the ridge, Suki swore, "Kagome, shoot Naraku down and look after Chimaki!" she called.

"Right!" Kagome cried, pulling out an arrow and notching it into her bow. Chimaki ducked behind Kagome as the girl drew back her bow in preparation to shoot.

Suki jumped over the edge, landing roughly on the snow covered ground near Ichida, "Ichida, don't you dare!" she screamed, running in front of her and rushing to attack Naraku. She raised her hand and threw a fireball at his, the flame burning and hissing as it flew though the air.

"And thus the leader finally arrives," Naraku said calmly, dodging the fireball with ease and stepping to the side as Suki smashed her fiery fist through thin air, "After your comrade has already died."

Suki snarled and ducked down onto the ground. Ichida flew over Suki's crouched form and slammed her fist into the ground. The ground heaved and ached, a giant crater forming around Ichida's fist, a huge chasm opening up and threatening to swallow up Naraku.

Missing the attack by a hair's breadth, Naraku jumped backwards, releasing a cloud of poison miasma. The two were a powerful force working in tandem. He was glad that he had taken out the Yozeme earlier, because if the three of them were together, then that would be a powerful force to be reckoned with. No wonder their clans had forged such a strong reputation as the most powerful clans in existence, as a group, their abilities would complement one another perfectly.

"Naraku!" Kagome screamed from the high ridge, and she released her arrow.

With a burst of purple light, the holy aura of the arrow streaked towards Naraku. The purified arrow blasted off his right arm and a good portion of his torso.

She had been aiming for his heart. He frowned, about to regenerate the wound when Suki hurled another blast of fire towards him that he had to dodge as well, only to have Ichida jumped behind him and try to punch through his head. They were getting annoying.

His armor spiked and a heavy root pierced through Ichida's shoulder, disabling her right arm. She screamed as he pulled out the root and the red blood began to stained her tan skin with crimson before it dribbled onto the ground. Wasting no time, Naraku flicked out his hand and a tendril smacked into Ichida's stomach, sending the girl flying backwards.

Suki cried out, "Ichida!" She jumped towards Naraku and began a powerful series of hits, each hand burning with white-hot flame. Just in time, his right arm regenerated and it was with little effort that he swatted the Higure girl away like the annoying fly that she was.

Suki tumbled backwards, landing heavily in the snow with a thud. When Naraku pulled back his hand, he saw that it was badly burnt. Interesting. So even just touching the Higure girl would cause severe burns. She must be able to wrap her youkai aura around herself in battle at all times, creating an elegant attack and defense at the same time. Of course, it posed no problem to Naraku.

Watching the battle with anger, Kagome notched another arrow and fired again at Naraku.

The demon glared at the pesky, annoying, aggravating miko, leaping away from the blast just in time.

The useless arrow buried itself into the snow and the holy aura dissipated.

Fallen a ways away, Ichida groaned as she tried to push herself up. She had hit the cliff at a bad angle, her back aching in a loud protest at the solid rock having banged against her bones. She pushed herself up, wincing in pain from her shoulder. Damn that Naraku. Her right arm had been her dominant one, now she was heavily weakened.

In front of her, Suki stood up, her hands beginning to glow once again.

No, Suki couldn't be in the way! Ichida had a chance to end this, end it the same way that Tsubaki had tried to.

Her hand still gripped the green scroll. "Suki!" she cried, using her teeth to bite open the string that kept the ancient spell bound, "Get out of the way!"

Suki turned around just as Ichida yanked open the scroll, "NO!" she screamed.

Ichida placed her hands on the open scroll and the inky black letters began to spread over her flesh. She gritted her teeth at the pain of her own bones beginning to transform. The scrolls were the ultimate weapon of the three clans. There were only two, the old regime had considered the Higures to be above the spells that the scrolls housed. They were a final resort weapon, transferring awesome power into the user at a price. The scrolls had to be charged with the user's own life force. Their life would be forfeit as soon as the effects wore off. She remembered seeing her grandfather face down a thousand enemies, and in the end, he became a giant tiger before his death.

Naraku's crimson eyes flashed.

He was faster than Suki. In an instant, he was in front of Ichida, and had sliced through the scroll.

A breathy gasp left Ichida, the two useless sheets of paper falling into the snow, the connection between her and the spell broken. Her life force was beginning to leak out into the air. She was going to die. She hadn't been able to use the scroll. She hadn't been able to unleash the enormous power of the spell to aide Suki. She hadn't been able to do anything.

She had failed.

Naraku's hand became incased in that strange bone that formed his armor, and he stabbed Ichida through the stomach. Blood spilled over the cliff face, her body impaled on the rock.

"Ichida!" Kagome cried, her heart leaping for her friend. Chimaki stepped backwards with a nod as Kagome grabbed another arrow and scrambled down the cliff face. Her going was slow, being only human, and she scrapped her arms and knees a thousand times in her hurry to get down there, but it didn't matter. Ichida was bleeding out and there was nothing she could do.

Suki reacted furiously, drawing Naraku's attention back to her as the two began to fight once again.

Kagome dropped down onto the ground and pulled the vicious weapon out of Ichida's gut. With a breathy gasp, Ichida fell into Kagome's shaking arms, blood staining the snow. Kagome pulled off her jacket, pressing the fabric to the wound, hoping to staunch the flow of blood with pressure. "Ichida, oh god…" she muttered, pushing down on the bloody girl, "Don't die… please don't die."

Ichida's large green eyes fluttered open unsteadily, "I'm sorry…" she muttered, "I failed."

Kagome shook her head, "No, you didn't. Don't say that." She helped Ichida to sit up, "You're a demon, you'll heal soon, this wound won't kill you. Besides, stomach wounds are always iffy. There's no sealing your fate yet." As the shaky demon sat up, Kagome wondered where she had gotten that piece of information. She had never been forced to heal people before, unless… her memories were beginning to leak back into her head. And she didn't know if that was bad or good.

Ichida leaned against the rocky wall, "No, that's not it…" she groaned in pain before she leaned against the rock, "The scroll… it was destroyed," her lazy eyes flickered to the two forms of Suki and Naraku, who were fighting a ways away, two forms that were hard to make out in how blurry they were, "Suki's still… fighting… I have to help her."

Kagome pressed down on the wound again, "You're not going to be moving for some time, Ichida, sorry," she too looked towards Suki and Naraku.

The two of them weren't evenly matched. Suki would strike or throw fire or try to scorch him and Naraku would simply move out of the way, her attacks all missing and his all hitting. He was toying with her, like she was unimportant and he could dispose of her whenever he wanted. They were going about this all the wrong way. Kagome's arrows were limited, she only had a few left, and they were the only thing that could give Naraku damage that actually made him stumble and didn't just inconvenience him for a moment.

If he could move his heart around his body, then what they needed was a large area-of-effect sort of attack. But Ichida and Suki were all very different fighters from what they needed at the moment. And when Tsubaki had… well, there had clearly been a lot of weapons, all at once, and yet Naraku had still been able to dodge and remain alive. They needed something that could pinpoint his heart or just destroy it, but it was looking more and more like the only one who had something like that was InuYasha. And he was still absent.

"InuYasha…" Kagome said in a quiet plea, "Where are you?"

Suki tried to land another strike, her blows getting more wild and more desperate as the fight dragged on.

She couldn't do anything! Her best attack combinations involved burning and those were doing nothing because of Naraku's intangibility thing that he had going on. She burned off an arm and voom… one more grew back in its place. It didn't end and her large scale fire attacks tired her quickly. She frowned and leapt forward, a whirlwind of flame forming around her hand as she struck.

Naraku effortlessly sent her flying backwards. She skidded in the snow and then straightened up, ready to get right back in there and start-

She froze as another aura approached slowly.

It couldn't be. Why would she be nearing the fight? She knew that she wasn't a fighter, she knew that Suki would always protect her and that she shouldn't get involved in the fighting. Why was she here? Suki turned around to see Chimaki slowly walking towards the center of the fighting.

Naraku saw it as well, and that same satisfied smirk settled over his features.

"Chimaki," he commanded, "Kill your sister."


	38. 38 Ashes, Ashes

S-S: Sorry for the delay (even though it wasn't a _very_ long wait). I hope you guys enjoy this chapter in which InuYasha finally gets his sh*t together.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

Kagome slowly stopped crying, burying her face into InuYasha's chest as he held her close. "I'm sorry Kagome," he said quietly, "I won't leave you alone anymore. Three years… you must have been so alone. I shouldn't have died, I should have protected you better…"

She nodded her head, dark hair bobbing up and down as she said sadly, "Will you stay with me? Forever?"

InuYasha opened his mouth to reply that yes, of course he would stay with her, he would always stay with her and he would never leave her alone when he paused. He closed his mouth. Something wasn't right. There was still Naraku to contend with, his sleepy mind reminded him, and the Kagome he knew would never let that murderer get away with anything that had happened. And Kagome's friends were still out there, still fighting, weren't they? Kagome didn't leave her friends behind.

But she was so sad, he thought. She was alone, she was scared, he had left her all by herself and now she was all alone. _He _had _abandoned _her. He frowned as Kagome's hands tightened their grip on his arms. The Kagome he knew wouldn't hold a grudge, even if it was entirely his fault, she would forgive him for leaving her even if it was his fault.

This was wrong.

This had happened before.

Last time, there had been fire and Kikyo and he had fallen into Naraku's trap with ease, only escaping because of a half-remembered phrase of Kagome's. This time, the bastard was using Kagome against him.

InuYasha sighed, "Sorry Kagome," he said quietly, "But I ain't gonna stay here. I have to find the real Kagome."

The fake Kagome looked up at him with shock and surprise on her face, her eyes becoming made of wood and moss, her arms turning stiff and wooden and then she flickered. And vanished.

The illusion faded around him like the distortion of reality that it was, melting like hot wax from a flame as the real world began to appear. InuYasha blinked, and then found himself standing in a forest, much like the one that he had just entered… through… the… barrier…

That was right! He had forgotten, there had been that illusion and it had messed with his head and made him not remember that they were in the middle of a freaking battle, damn it! They had entered through some barrier, not one of Naraku's, but that of someone that the Higure girl had mentioned before. InuYasha looked around, seeing only snow and forest.

"Kagome!" He cried, looking all around, turning his head round and round, but he couldn't see anything and he couldn't hear anything. His nose was too cold to smell much, and all there was was a faint smell of pine and water, he couldn't get a single whiff of Kagome, and the others all held shards of the Fuyoheki so there was no point.

Shit, the barrier must have been designed to split them up, trapping each of them in those weird illusions. He vaguely remembered that the last time this had happened, back five hundred years ago, the illusions hadn't been able to touch Kagome, she had just walked through without incident. She must have gotten through to the compound on the other side of the forest. That… or Naraku was waiting on the end.

If the Yozeme girl, Tsubaki, had taken care of this new ally of Naraku, then that left Naraku free to intercept Kagome before she could get to the safety of the compound. Hopefully they had enough time to let Kagome get through. Either way, InuYasha had to catch up to them quickly, before Naraku could get there.

"You are InuYasha?"

The hanyou turned around, looking for the source of the noise. "Yeah, who's asking?" he snarled automatically.

It was a demon that he hadn't seen before. InuYasha couldn't smell the guy, so this new demon must be using the Fuyoheki as well. It was a man, about twenty or something. Blond hair, tan skin and was pretty damn muscular. There were these green crocodile scales going up his arm and on the side of his face, coloring one eye yellow while the other remained blue. In the demon's clawed hand, he held a nasty looking machete, short and sharp. But the guy… he looked dead.

InuYasha frowned, "Wait, let me guess. You're that new ally of Naraku's right? That's why you look so dead, the Tusbaki girl said that Naraku was using a dead mind to create a new freak minion of his…" Wait, if this demon was here… then what had happened to Tsubaki? "Did you kill Tsubaki?!" InuYasha demanded.

The demon stepped forward and lifted up the machete. Then he blinked, and it was like his eyes refocused. In a strange and much clearer voice, her asked, "You're that hanyou friend of the shamen!"

"Shamen?" InuYasha said with a frown, rolling the strange word around on his tongue, "You mean Kagome?"

The crocodile demon didn't nod, and his body didn't move, but he said, "Yeah, I was the voice in her freakin dream! I helped 'er out! Look, I'm not really alive again, I can't do nothing right now. All I can do is borrow a body to talk from. I gave the sha- Kagome my name, so I aint worried too much. The damn Jap who stole me sword is the one controlling this dead body of mine."

InuYasha blinked, trying to wrap his mind around all this new information, "You dead?"

"Pretty much. Sucks doesn't it?" the voice replied, seeming to be not so much connected to the body anymore, "Damn, I'm beginning to fade," the voice swore, "look, I aint got much time, so listen the fuck up. This body is programed to fight you, probably to the death. That's good, cause I just want some damn peace. Kagome has me name, so I don't care bout much else, only I don't want to owe a freaking Jap cause I started attacking him for no reason, ya got that?" the voice sighed and told InuYasha, "Look, my left side is a lot weaker than my right. And I can't track movement very fast with my eyes."

"Wait, does that mean that you're not gonna stop yourself from fighting me?!" the hanyou demanded, "I got to get back to Kagome, I don't have time to fight your resurrected corpse!"

The voice was very faint now, "Sorry, I can't. I'm pretty much dead now. Just remember what I told you. And get to Kagome."

"No, wait, I need more answers!" InuYasha yelled, but it was too late.

The voice was gone.

All that was left was a dead body, hell bent on killing InuYasha.

* * *

Suki's red eyes went wide, and _real_ fear came over her face.

Of course. The demon in the woods. That had been where Naraku had got the power of hypnosis from, that was how he had been able to turn Tsubaki into a mindless slave, and now he… he… And now that god damn bastard had done the same thing to Chimaki. "Chimaki-nee…" she whispered, terrified, as she slowly turned around.

Her sister was standing at the base of the cliff, despite the fact that Suki had told her not to approach the fight and despite the fact that Chimaki wouldn't disobey a request like that. Chimaki always knew to stay out of the fighting. But when Suki desperately searched Chimaki's eyes, looking for something, anything, a small spark of light that meant that her sister was still herself and wasn't a mindless puppet… there was nothing.

_Nothing._

Her sister's eyes were dead and devoid of life, just like Tusbaki's had been.

Chimaki opened her mouth and a tone-less, emotion-less, and utterly Chimaki-less voice came out, "Yes, Master Naraku."

Suki's heart died in her chest.

Chimaki turned to Suki and stepped forward slowly, raising her arm. Her hand slowly began to smoke, until there was an aura of fire around her fingers. It wasn't like Suki's constant burn, this was less powerful, but deadly all the same.

And then Chimaki leaped at her sister.

On the other side of the valley, Naraku strode towards Kagome. She was still kneeling on the ground. The Shikon-no-Tama would be his!

There was nothing she could do, Kagome knew that. She was no help in this fight. Her arrows were useless, she couldn't shoot Chimaki, and Naraku knew that. And her arrows seemed to have no effect on Naraku either. All she could do was press down on the hole in Ichida's stomach and hope it had a positive effect. "Don't you die, Ichida…" she muttered, gritting her teeth as she cast a frantic glance towards Naraku.

The demon was smirking, that sick twisted little grin that didn't mean amusement but confidence. Naraku stepped closer to Kagome, and she saw his red eyes flicker to the Shikon jewel that she still wore as a pendant.

"Stay away!" Kagome snarled, her own ferocity surprising her.

She raised her hands on impulse, and a bright pink glow surrounded her arms, like the light from her arrows. What had InuYasha called it? _Purification energy_. Her miko powers. The light grew and the pink grew brighter, forming a dome around Kagome and Ichida.

The smirk fell off Naraku's face as he stepped back from the dome of pink energy. Kagome gasped at the extent of her own powers. She had managed to create a barrier. She was keeping Naraku at bay and she was doing all on her own.

She turned to Suki, who was just dodging Chimaki's attacks with ease and fear. "Once Suki knocks out Chimaki, we can kill Naraku. I can fight better now, I think."

Ichida sadly shock her head, the small effort causing her to cough and rasp for a moment before she was able to speak, "That'll never happen," she said sadly, "Suki will absolutely never hurt Chimaki, no matter what the circumstance. She will let herself be killed before she hurts her."

Outside the barrier and across the clearing, Suki was starting to smile.

Chimaki was a fabulous fighter. Already, Suki had been burnt twice, and she had been avoiding as best as she could. Ever since the tattoo on her sister's shoulder had surfaced, Suki just hadn't had the time to teach Chimaki to fight, although she had promised that she would as soon as she was able to. It filled Suki with pride to know that he sister was such a good fighter even without any training.

Suki stepped away from another attack, rolling onto the snow and jumping back up to avoid the follow-up kick that should have hit her in the head. Instead, there was just a tiny burn on her nose, but nothing serious. Suki could never hurt her sister. She knew that. All she could do was wait it out, hope for a miracle, or kill Naraku before Chimaki became too lost. In other words, that miracle was looking pretty non-existent right now. In all probability, Suki would let herself be killed by her sister's hand. She knew that. She would accept that. The alternative was unthinkable.

The ground began to crack around Chimaki, small splinters in the earth that groaned and roared.

Then a great chasm opened up in front of Chimaki, and a huge spire of boiling lava shot up into the air and splattered drops of molten fire over the ground. Suki leapt backwards and watched as her sister began to channel the lava into a weapon around her arm.

Suki smiled, "I'm so proud of you, nee-san," she whispered, gazing in awe at the power that her sister could now harness. The first one since their father to be able to do it, even though Suki had long thought that it was impossible for either of them to do so. "Even when they're all dead, you're still proving them wrong."

The bright red light flickered across Chimaki's face, illuminating her demonic features and making her look regal and deadly and powerful. The lava dripped from her hand, turning the snow to steam as it fell to the ground. Chimaki walked forward, the dead look in her eyes flickering in the firelight. Chimaki really was the first born in their family, really was the strongest, was the family heir. Their father had made a bigger mistake than he thought that day he cast her out of the family.

Chimaki was no idiot, no fool. She was brilliant beyond all belief. She wasn't an invalid. She could fight like nothing Suki had ever seen before. She wasn't the waste of space that everyone thought she was. She was wonderful. And she was the most powerful member of their family that Suki had ever seen. So much promise. If only Chimaki had been taught to fight since the day she was born, she could have been unstoppable by now.

And Chimaki was so close now, her arm of fire ready to kill Suki. And Suki wasn't going to move. She was going to help her sister.

So when Chimaki struck her arm, Suki stepped into the attack and pulled her sister into a close hug.

The lave dripped uselessly to the ground.

Chimaki wasn't moving, those dead eyes of hers unblinking and not responsive. "Remember me, Chimaki-nee," Suki whispered, hugging her sister as close as she could and trying not to cry from the pain of seeing her dear big sister so unlike herself, "Don't let Naraku take control of you. You're strong. I know you can do it. Just remember me, nee-san."

Her paler red eyes just stared into the distance, but she didn't try to attack Suki either. Chimaki just stood there. Her eyes shone, just a flicker, just for a moment, but in that second of time, she broke the control, just enough to whisper back, "S-Suki… Suki-nee…"

Naraku glared at the scene taking place across the field. That little girl wasn't supposed to remember! She was supposed to be the weakest, an easy target!

He frowned in displeasure and snapped his fingers.

Chimaki gasped as the deadness came over her eyes once again and she leapt away from her sister. She darted across the clearing and stood beside Naraku, like the loyal servant she was once again.

"Leave my sister out of this!" Suki yelled, moving back into a fighting stance, "Just let her go! She's not your mindless puppet! Your fight is with me!"

Naraku glanced over at Suki for a moment before his eyes flickered back to Chimaki with a gaze that made Suki's heart stop. "All right," he said slowly.

Suki paused, her eyes wide in disbelief. What was he playing at?! Naraku never agreed, not to anything, he didn't do that! He was the one to set the rules, he made the deals, he didn't agree to them and he had no reason to let Chimaki go. She would betray him anyways – of this Suki was certain –, but that wasn't a reason for him to release her now. Something was wrong. Suki hurried towards Naraku.

"She's useless to me now anyways," Naraku said coldly, observing Chimaki as if she wasn't a person, just an object that he was willing to part with, "And she showed so much promise as well. Shame." He held out his hand, towards Chimaki's stomach and something inside her glowed.

Then Naraku plunged his hand through her stomach and pulled out a shimmering diamond blade covered in bright crimson blood.

Chimaki let out a tiny breathy gasp, and then with a flick of Naraku's wrist, she was flung towards Suki.

"_Chimaki-nee_!" Suki screamed desperately, catching her sister before she could be too hurt. "Oh god… please be okay…" Suki muttered to herself, wide eyed as she held Chimaki's unresponsive body in her arms.

Pulse, she had to check for a pulse. But that didn't make sense because there was so much blood, too much blood, and there was that deadness in Chimaki's eyes. She couldn't still be under the hypnosis, that was impossible, Naraku had let her go. Why was there so much blood? Suki kept frantically trying to find Chimaki's wrist to check for a pulse, but at the same time she had to check for breathing and there wasn't any of that, only a deadness that _couldn't be there_!

Suki's shaking hands finally found their way to Chimaki's wrist. Her fingers slipped in the wet and warm blood as she hurriedly found the vein and pressed. Nothing. She leaned her ear to Chimaki's mouth and listened. Nothing. Her entire body began shaking because this wasn't possible.

This wasn't possible.

This wasn't possible.

No no no _no no no NO NO NO NO!_

"C-Chimaki-nee…" she whispered desperately, hoping with absolutely everything left in her that her sister was fine and alive and this wasn't happening and that this was just a dream and that she would wake up and find her sister to be alive and well because right now she wasn't… "Oh god…" she choked, "Chimaki-nee…"

"She's dead... You- you killed her…"

"You killed Chimaki-nee."

"You killed my sister."

_Bump-bump._

"_I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"_


	39. 39 We All Fall Down

S-S: Sorry for the delay again! So enjoy chapter 39, a smashing chapter in which InuYasha pwns majorly and Suki goes off her rocker.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

This was almost too easy.

InuYasha dodged another swing from that pathetic sword of the demons and effortlessly slammed his elbow into the demon's left side. Staggering to recover, the crocodile demon raised his blade again. Definitely too easy, InuYasha thought.

The demon could not track fast movement with his eyes, InuYasha remembered. Time to test if that information was still accurate after Naraku had messed around with the guy's body and head. He waved his hand quickly in front of the demon's eyes, watching the way the yellow and blue didn't quite move at the same speed before InuYasha cleaved him in half with the Tetsusaiga.

The demon fell over, severed in half. Slowly, like dust in the wind, his body dissolved into nothing.

"That was too easy…" InuYasha muttered, "Something was wrong. Naraku didn't have the concentration to manipulate that puppet like he should have," and if Naraku couldn't focus on keeping InuYasha occupied, then he hated to think of what was happening with the others. What was happening with Kagome. "What the hell happened…?"

And then he felt an explosion of demonic aura and broke out into a run.

* * *

Red.

Red blood.

Seeing red.

That was all Kagome could see. Red.

It terrified her in a way that she had never felt before, such a deep fear that she feared she would run away because of it. The demonic aura coming from Suki was enough to drown her in it, and the way it burned at her threatened to kill Kagome for even daring to stand near Suki.

The ground was on fire, a bright blinding glare that hurt her eyes. The air was wavering and rippling over the fire and the lava. The cracked earth was burnt and scorched and molten rivers of fire sputtered and spurted from beneath Suki's feet. But the demon girl's face was the visage of anger. The whites of her eyes had turned crimson and an aura of pure fire wrapped around her body. Her hair had come free from its tie and blew around her face wildly, revealing elongated ears. Claws grew from her hands and when she snarled it was through a mouth of fangs.

"_I'LL KILL YOU!" _she screamed again, her fury exploding in a burst of flame and lava that destroyed the snow and promised to destroy anyone who got close.

Kagome scrambled back from Suki, her heart racing as she hurried to grab hold of Ichida's hand, "We have to get out of here!" she cried, tugging on Ichida's unresponsive hand. Ichida didn't move, and slowly, Kagome began to realize that her friend was about to die.

"Go…" Ichida muttered, and with one last act of strength, tapped Kagome gently on the arm, the force behind it enough to throw Kagome half-way up the cliff.

Tears streaming down her eyes, Kagome grabbed onto the rock and pulled herself to safety, away from the lava and the fire that would burn everything. Ichida was gone. Chimaki was gone. Kagome sobbed pointlessly as she watched the fire burn at Suki. She had known, always known that Chimaki was the only thing that mattered to Suki, the one person she loved and the one person that she would do anything for. Now, that had turned Suki into a monster. Just a creature consumed with hate and fury and a thirst for vengeance that would never be quenched.

Kagome dared not shot an arrow for fear of hitting Suki, for fear of missing and hitting the now-gone Ichida that she almost couldn't believe was dead. "InuYasha…" she sobbed, "Where are you!?"

Where was silver!?

* * *

_Bump-bump_.

Suki could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears, her blood rushing through her veins, bring with it fire and power and strength. Her vision blurred till all she saw was red and fire and pain.

She was nothing. There was nothing left of her. Who or what was she without her other half, her sister, her Chimaki? Where was the big sister who kept her sane, who gave her something to live for, who kept her from drowning in her own anger and hatred? Where was Chimaki?

Dead.

That was right.

Dead. Chimaki was dead.

_Naraku._ The name went through her ruined mind like a gunshot. Suki latched onto that name, remembered how he had killed her sister, remembered how Naraku was the enemy. Kill Naraku. He killed her sister. He killed the one thing she lived for. He had killed her sister and in doing so… had killed Suki. Kill Naraku. He was the one who murdered Chimaki. She had to kill him. It was the only thing she could do anymore.

There was so much power running through her body that she felt she could do it. She could kill Naraku. It was too late, too useless a thing to think about, but it was the only thing she could do. Her soul was screaming for his blood on her hands. She didn't care about anything else, she didn't care if it killed her. She was acutely aware of how she was already dead inside.

She couldn't hold on, she was losing control to the beast inside her that was screaming and crying at the same time, unimaginable anger and unbearable sorrow at the same time.

_Kill Naraku_.

In her tormented and crimson sight, she focused on the figure of Naraku. He was smirking. Suki clenched her fists so hard the skin on her palms broke and hot red blood rolled down her fingers and evaporated in the heat. He would _pay_.

A furious scream wrenched its way out of her throat as she threw herself at Naraku, fire forming around her body like a shield and lava following in her wake. "_You'll pay!"_

A thin purple shield wavered into existence between her and Naraku. She ignored it. There was lava forming itself around her hands and that was a thin shield and it was absolutely _nothing_ compared to her anger. She screamed and slammed her fist through the shield, letting it shatter around her. It was in the way of her getting to Naraku, it had been stopping her from wrapping her fingers around his throat and killing him and it had to _go_.

Snarling like an animal, she stabbed her clawed hand towards Naraku, her only goal being to do whatever it took to kill him. He had killed Chimaki. She would kill him. She had to. She had _nothing_, nothing but this last burst of power with which to extract her final wish. After that, she didn't care anymore.

Her hand closed around nothingness and she whipped around in a flash, stabbing at Naraku again and again. He was never there when she hit, always just out of her reach. She snarled and threw a gigantic blast of fire at him.

Chimaki.

She leapt through the air and stabbed a white hot hand at his head.

He had killed her precious sister.

He dodged with ease, his arm twisting and distorting like a thing made of clay. A horde of writhing and chaotic demons broke off from his body and plowed their way through the fire like the mindless creatures they were.

Chimaki had been innocent.

Suki's wide and crazed eyes didn't even see the demons. They burnt to ashes on a wall of lava that rose unconsciously to Suki's defense. Mind screaming and her demonic aura pulsing power through her, she slammed her hand onto the ground, sending a wave of lava towards Naraku. Pure fire, a hundred feet high, towering over him.

Naraku jumped through the air and used his diamond sword to cut through the lava, clearing a path through to safety.

Chimaki hadn't been like Suki. She had never bathed in the blood of many opponents, never slaughtered, never killed, never hurt anyone. The sort of person who tried her hardest at everything and always worked to make Suki proud, even though there was nothing that made Suki prouder than Chimaki simply being herself and the both of them knew that. She was kind and caring, trustworthy and loving, the most wonderful person Suki had ever had the privilege of knowing. Chimaki had been innocent.

Kicking off firmly from the ground, Suki leapt through the air and clashed with Naraku, her hand trying to burn away at the impossible diamond blade. She seethed and screamed as her useless attack got her sent flying back to the ground.

Tucking her knees to her chest and letting herself roll, she hit the ground running and launched another attack combo the moment Naraku touched back down to earth. For every time her hand flashed through empty space or was blocked by diamond, a wave of fire and lava would crash onto Naraku. She would kill him. Blood burned in her mouth and she realized that her newfound fangs had sliced through her lip.

"You will never win against me," Naraku said coldly from behind her, the diamond blade flashing and a sudden pain shot through Suki's back.

Blood poured from the long gash that ran perpendicular from her spine, but Suki felt nothing. She didn't feel anything anymore. Only rage and anger and sorrow and regret. This pain was nothing. Nothing compared to the feeling of having her heart ripped out of her chest and burnt, nothing compared to Chimaki's death, nothing at all. "_Shut up you bastard!" _Suki screamed in defiance, "_You don't even deserve to speak!_"

Naraku raised his hand, fingers transforming into thick roots that wrapped around Suki's arms and pinned her down as she struggled pointlessly. "I've already killed your allies and the one you swore to protect. There is nothing you can do to me," he spat, "You will never get your vengeance for your dead sister Chimaki."

_Bump-bump._

The wood restraints burst into flame as Suki screamed again, "_How dare you say her name!"_ she cried, rushing forward, her right arm raised to strike, "_How dare you speak of her with your vile tongue!" _

Lava exploded in small drops of fire as Suki's fist slammed into solid diamond, lighting up the blade in a red glare. Naraku frowned in annoyance. With a flash of speed, he moved to Suki's side and brought down his blade.

And cut off her right arm.

She was vaguely aware of pain, somehow conscious of the sudden blood loss, and in part of her mind she realized that her right side was lighter.

The pain was nothing. Suki couldn't feel any more pain than she already did.

In a last desperate effort to kill him, she snarled, turning quickly around to face him, fire swirling in a storm around her and her eyes red pits of anger. She moved forward and a wave of lava moved with her.

_Bump-bump_.

The next moment, Naraku's hand had transformed into a heavy root and was sticking out through her heart.

His arm pulsed. Miasma poured into Suki's body, dissolving her flesh like acid and burning its way through her body like an unbearable fire. How ironic that it always came down to fire in the end.

Naraku removed his arm and Suki fell to her knees.

She had failed…

* * *

"Kagome!" InuYasha screamed, her pleasant scent blowing towards him, mixed with fire and lava and fear and an overpowering bitter smell of blood.

He crashed through the trees, praying that he could make it in time, praying that he wouldn't be too late, hoping to whatever sick god was out there that Kagome was okay. It wasn't her blood, it was the blood of the others. All of them. Every single one of their companions was injured or worse, and his nose was telling him that there was too much blood to save them. Just like last time. Naraku picking them off one by one. He would pay.

He saw Kagome and his heart soared. She was alright!

"InuYasha!" she sobbed. She turned just as he crashed through the trees and he could see the tears run down her face and felt his heart break again, "They're all… everyone is…" she cried. The Shikon jewel around her neck glowed, "This happened before… Naraku killed everyone…"

InuYasha pulled her into a hug with the arm that he wasn't holding his blade. She clung to the fabric of his haori and sobbed, choking tear-filled gasps that wrenched their way through her body and made her shake. "I'm sorry Kagome," he said quietly, "I'm so sorry…"

"How fitting. That you two should be together before your demise."

Naraku stepped onto the edge of the cliff and smirked. Now a new fight began.

* * *

Suki pressed her only hand into the fiery ground, digging her fingers painfully into the earth as she dragged her useless body over the rock.

Her eyes were cloudy and unfocused, but she could still see the prone form of her sister lying in front of her. Suki coughed up more blood and pulled herself towards Chimaki. Blood streaked the ground red behind her, a bloody trail that only grew darker as she continued forward, despite the fact that every inch she dragged herself was a second of life she lost.

Her face broke into a relived smile as she finally reached Chimaki. Like this… her sister could almost be sleeping.

Tiredness overcame her. A deep desire to sleep, to never wake up set on and she was aware that she was dying. Her stomach burned from the miasma and she wasn't able to feel her legs anymore. Her body would disintegrate. She would turn to ash.

She stopped moving at Chimaki's side, resting forever near her sister. Her blood stained hand reached out and grasped hold of Chimaki's. "I'm so sorry…" she sobbed, tears running down her face and mixing with sweat and blood and hair and plastering over her eyes. "I'm sorry… nee-san…"

"I've failed you…"

Suki had promised to always protect her. She had sworn that she would keep Chimaki safe, she had promised that and over until her mouth was dry and she could speak no more. Ichida and Tsubaki and herself had all sworn an oath to protect Chimaki and they had lived and died doing just that. Was it all meaningless? Had they always been doomed to fail? "I'm so sorry. I'm a pathetic sister… aren't I?" Suki whispered sadly, a thousand confessions that she could never say, "I said I'd protect you. I'm so useless…"

She was almost gone now. She couldn't breathe. Her body was turning to dust.

"I love you… nee-san…"

And then she became ash and blew away in the wind. A few bones remained, thin broken fingers wrapped around a solid one made of flesh.

Even dead, she had never let go of Chimaki's hand.


	40. 40 I Will Not Lose You, Kagome

S-S: Sorry for the delay, I was in Disneyland! Is that even a legitimate excuse? By the way, we probably have about… oh… this chapter and then two more? Maybe an epilogue? Yeah, nearing the end people.

I don't own InuYasha.

* * *

This was the start of everything.

InuYasha held on to Kagome's waist tighter and lifted the Tetsusaiga up to rest on his shoulders, ready to fight. The two of them, facing down Naraku. This was the start of the final battle, the three knew that, even on different sides of the fight, all three had the same thought. This was the end of the war.

It was Kagome who attacked first.

She drew her bow and fired an arrow in a second, tears still streaming down her face but now mixed with fury. He had killed Tsubaki, killed Ichida, killed Chimaki, killed Suki. Four of her friends, four people that she deeply cared for. Four people whom he had used as pawns and then thrown away like trash when they decided that they were people too and had fought back. How dare he just use people like that? Even demons, even though Kagome knew that her friends must have killed and fought all the same, even then it was still such a disgusting act.

As the bright pink light from the arrow streaked towards Naraku, a fleeting thought ran through Kagome's mind. She did not judge her friends by what they had done, to do such a thing would be petty and vengeful. She judged them by who they were.

There was a bright explosion of light.

Kagome's arrow fell to the ground, having been stopped by the brilliant diamond blade. What? This blade, it could stop her arrows? But they purified demonic auras… how could a blade that must have been demonic stop that?

That sadistic and arrogant smirk flashed across Naraku's face as he appreciatively examined the blade, "Do you see now? This blade, it cannot be purified by the touch or weapon of a miko, because, although it belonged to a demon, is not demonic. It is pure stone. There is nothing to be purified," he raised the blade again, "It was well worth the trouble of stealing."

'_That damn jap stole me sword!' _

"You-" Kagome gasped, "You stole that blade from Bryni before you killed him!"

Naraku paused for a moment, "Yes, that was his name wasn't it. He was easy to kill. InuYasha would agree with me there as well."

InuYasha frowned, "You killed a demon, and then brought him back from the dead and forced him to fight as your puppet?! That's sick, even by your disgusting standards!" he snarled at Naraku.

Kagome notched another arrow. The list just kept growing, didn't it? A long and lengthy list of those fallen to Naraku. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kikyo, Tsubaki, Ichida, Chimaki, Suki, and now Bryni. He would pay. The bloodshed stopped here.

In a flash, Naraku stepped up to Kagome and slammed a root into her stomach, sending her flying backwards.

"Kagome!" InuYasha screamed, trying to turn his head to make sure that Kagome was alright at the same time as Naraku turned to him. The two clashed blades, the fang against the diamond, sparks from the metal and the stone flying as Naraku and InuYasha fought. Parrying another strike from the stone blade, InuYasha prayed to whatever god was out there that Kagome was safe.

Kagome crashed through a few trees, skidding to a stop in the snow and hitting solid wood with a painful ache in her back. "Damn…" She cursed.

She groaned painfully and struggled to right herself, grabbing onto a tree branch to pull herself up. It seemed like Naraku had kicked her a far ways away, she could only just see InuYasha and Naraku fighting each other, small people in the distance that buzzed around each other like flies. Kagome gathered her fallen arrows and her discarded bow that had fallen out of her hand when she had crashed into the tree.

There was still an ache in her chest from the crash and she knew that it would bruise badly in the morning – actually it was most likely technically morning right then – but she didn't feel the pain too badly. Adrenaline pumped through her veins like molten fire, quickening her breath and speeding her heart. "I'm fine InuYasha!" she called back, cupping her hands around her mouth to carry the sound, even though she probably knew that his dog ears could hear her anyways.

Knee deep in the snow, Kagome slung her quiver of arrows over her shoulder and then noticed something very reassuring.

She was a few feet away from a steep incline in the mountain, which looked like it led to the very top cliff, if the lack of more mountain above it was anything to go by. At the top of the incline was a long line of high stone walls. Behind them, Kagome could see the dark wooden beams of a palace. This must be the place Tsubaki had been trying to take them to, the Yozeme clan's compound. How had Tsubaki described it? Enough traps to stop an army. Kagome didn't know her way around the place, but neither did Naraku and if Kagome got there first then she could use the traps to stop Naraku!

Looking back at the two figures of InuYasha and Naraku, Kagome hurried over to the cliff face and began to climb.

Watch out Naraku. Enough traps to stop an army coming your way.

* * *

"Kaze no Kizu!" InuYasha yelled, slamming the huge Tetsusaiga onto the snowy ground.

Powerful beams of light exploded from the blade, slashing and slicing towards Naraku like giant claws that attacked the earth. The wind scar hit Naraku's purple shield, causing the shield to ripple before it expanded, sending the wind scar roaring back towards InuYasha.

Naraku smirked, "Did you forget, InuYasha!? My shield will turn every attack, every effort of yours against you!"

InuYasha leapt out of the way of the rebounded wind scar, rolling to the ground. He crouched up, his feet digging into the heavy white snow and his blade held at the ready. Kagome was fine, he reassured himself, hearing her call out to him. Kagome was fine but InuYasha would personally make sure that Naraku wasn't. This would be the final act, the last battle between the two of them.

The only problem was that aggravating diamond blade of Naraku's. Hell it wasn't even the damn demon's own weapon, he had stolen it from a dead guy! InuYasha scowled, tightening his grip on the Tetsusaiga's handle. Still, the blade was an issue. It could be used as a shield between Naraku and Kagome's sacred arrows and it had stood up to a full on attack from the Tetsusaiga. But InuYasha had diamonds of his own he could use.

"Kongosouha!" he screamed, slicing his blade horizontally through the air.

A thousand blades of sharp diamond exploded from the tip of his blade and sliced through the air towards Naraku.

Using the diamond blade, Naraku deflected the spears, the now useless shards of diamond clattering to the snowy ground and vanishing into the white. "Five hundred years have added to nothing it would seem," Naraku said slowly, that same vicious and victorious look in his blood red eyes, "Or at least, nothing that works against me," he turned to the direction Kagome had fallen, "Now wait right there InuYasha, I'll be back to finish you off. As soon as I get the Shikon-no-tama."

And with that Naraku sped off after Kagome, leaving InuYasha behind to swear and scramble to his feet, "Don't you dare!" he screamed, running after the enemy, "Don't you dare hurt Kagome!"

He lost her before.

He wouldn't lose her again.

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

_Total blackness, a blackness so black that it wasn't really black and didn't really have a color that could be assigned to it and was so deep and black that it was simply there. It wasn't peaceful. That was what people had always said, wasn't it? That the dead were 'at peace now' or some shit like that. InuYasha supposed that he should have known better than to believe what people said about something they had no idea about. But InuYasha did know. Death wasn't peaceful._

_Because he still had Kagome. And he didn't know if she was alright. _

_The only thing he had been able to do for her was take that blow from Naraku. At the time – what was time? InuYasha couldn't tell what time was anymore? – InuYasha hadn't really been thinking. He just knew that Kagome would get hit and that he himself was fast enough to get there first. He had probably known that he wouldn't be able to stop the hit, only get hit instead, but in his mind that instead was 'instead of Kagome' and that was worth it a thousand times over. Had it been enough? Was she safe?_

_And then InuYasha knew why he hadn't felt peace, because there was some tug on his mind, his soul, a pull of something and a real dark light streamed in from between the cracks in his eyelids. _

_He was alive again!_

_Kagome!_

_InuYasha bolted upright and snapped his eyes open, looking for the brown hair and the blue eyes and the smiling face that he knew had to be here somewhere. He saw darkness and blood everywhere and there might have been a few bones lying in the distance but he wasn't too sure. He just kept looking around -and around and not seeing Kagome, "What- where- Where's Kagome!?" he choked out. _

"_Stop babbling," a voice said, "You were killed by Naraku it would seem," and then InuYasha actually looked and saw his brother, the last person he ever thought to see, sheathing the Tensaiga. Well, at least that explained how InuYasha was still alive._

"_What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?!" InuYasha quipped automatically, wondering why Sesshomaru of all people was here and why InuYasha still couldn't see Kagome and what had happened to her._

_Sesshomaru frowned, like he was annoyed by something or probably just InuYasha's very presence, "Saving your ungrateful life," he replied, "Now tell me what happened with Naraku. I did not resurrect you for the pleasure of your company."_

_What had happened with Naraku? InuYasha struggled to remember and pressed a bloodied hand to his temple to try and force his damn brain to work, "Naraku… he ambushed us. He attacked us, out of nowhere, we didn't know he was coming. There was Kohaku with him, Sango and Miroku fought him while me and Kagome went after Naraku. We were winning, but then things turned bad. There was this huge cloud of miasma, everywhere. Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, even Shippo seemed to disappear-"_

"_They are dead," Sesshomaru filled in, glancing for a second over at the few bones- a skull, a few fingers, and a single bloodied fox paw._

_Something died inside InuYasha but he kept a straight face because he knew that Kagome hadn't died, she had been safe, "Yeah…" he said quietly, "I thought so…" he paused and then continued recollecting, "After… Kagome and me were fighting Naraku. He tried to stab her and she shot him with an arrow only…" there had been so much blood and so little time, only a long instant of knowing he had to run faster than ever before to get there in time._

"_You, like the fool you are, took the blow for the miko," Sesshomaru drawled, annoyed by InuYasha's actions. "And what became of Naraku and the Shikon-no-Tama?"_

_Wrap up the pieces of the story… "Naraku's dead, Kagome's arrow hit him. It must have purified the jewel at the same time cause he definitely had the jewel on him then. That or she took care of it after we won," and now what he had been wondering this whole time, "Where is Kagome? I can't smell her."_

"_At a guess," Sesshomaru said coldly, "The miko is dead as well."_

_That was silly._

_Kagome couldn't be dead, she simply couldn't be. "No, seriously," InuYasha said again, his voice a little too fast, a little too rushed as he hurried to get the reassurance that she was alive, "Where is Kagome? She has to be around here somewhere? Maybe she went to get water or… headed back to Kaede's village or… Look, she just has to be somewhere!"_

_Sesshomaru waved his hand at the few remains, "Naraku's miasma obviously makes swift work of those caught in it. There are barely any remains for the monk and the slayer, it is entirely possible, if not probable, that the miko was destroyed by the miasma."_

_InuYasha shook his head over and over again, "No."_

"_Kagome can't be dead, you don't understand. She has to be alive."_

"_She's got to be alive."_

"_She… she can't be… dead…"_

_x.x.x.x_

"_You will have to move sometime you know," Kagura said, hovering warily at the edge of the clearing as she had been for the past few minutes, as if afraid to come closer because InuYasha might bite._

"_Not happening," InuYasha said through tired eyes. He hadn't moved, he hadn't slept, not for about a month or two now. Demons, even a half of one, could keep going without rest for a very long time and InuYasha was determined not to move from the edge of the well until Kagome returned. The bone eaters well had to open again sometime and when that happened InuYasha would jump through and look for Kagome in the other world._

_Kagura sighed and slowly ventured closer to InuYasha, still looking like she was ready to jump away at any time. She walked to the well and held out something that was in her arms. "They say that if you throw the remains of demons into this well they'll vanish. I'm guessing that's true, going by the way you refuse to move from the edge."_

_A terse nod was her only reply._

"_That's good, I thought I might have had the wrong mystical well for a moment there," Kagura said with a slight touch of nervous sarcasm. She held the object in her arms over the edge of the well and a glisten caught InuYasha's eye._

"_What's that?" he asked, not really caring but the glisten had reminded him too much of the jewel and the question had left his mouth before he could stop it._

_Kagura dropped the shinning and yet dull mirror into the well, "Kanna's mirror. She died. I think losing a master killed her. She didn't have anything else inside of her but the blind will to serve. Still… family is family eh?" _

_She turned and walked away, "Your brother won't say it, but I think he's kind of worried, just a little bit. He mentioned something about how this mopping of yours was unbecoming of someone of his father's bloodline or something along those lines, so it's pretty much a big deal to him right now. He's right you know. The world doesn't end because one woman dies. Move on InuYasha."_

_InuYasha felt a pang of fury and unbearable pain jolt through him and he turned around all of a sudden to put Kagura in her place and tell her that Kagome _was_ the world and that she was the most important thing ever, but Kagura seemed to have known that he might say something along those lines and beat him to it._

"_Kagome wouldn't want you to be sad forever. Yeah, she would have wanted you to be sad obviously, but do you really think she would want you to become this?" Kagura said, glancing back at her shoulder, "A sad half-demon who wallows in pity and sorrow for the rest of his life? I didn't know her very well but I don't think that someone as kind as her would have wished that on anyone, much less someone she loved. She would have wanted you to be happy."_

_And then Kagura left, leaving InuYasha to wonder if there was anything that he could do to get Kagome back and if there was any way that he could move on. He felt like he was drowning in the world and that there was no way to swim and the only thing he could do was give up and float away._

_x.x.x.x_

_As a not very supportive brother who spent most of his time doing his own thing and not really caring about what everyone else was up to, the least InuYasha could do was go to his brother's wedding. Seriously, InuYasha absolutely never thought he would have to say that. Or think it. Or… yeah, there was just something weird about freaking Sesshomaru getting married. Somehow it defied InuYasha's laws of the universe._

_InuYasha would have liked to say that he arrived early, but really five minutes wasn't very early and he only got enough time to annoy his brother for a couple of minutes before hand. He could have spent hours annoying Sesshomaru, but that might have been a bit beside the point. _

"_I still can't believe that you of all people are getting married," InuYasha said with a snort, leaning casually against the wall of the church, "Although I can't say I'm complaining. Kagura waited four hundred years for you to finally get the guts to pop the question, I thought she would dump you first!"_

_Sesshomaru glared at InuYasha and then grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair, "Shut up."_

_There was the unspoken mention of Kagome. Had she been alive, InuYasha would have certainly married her. But now, with her dead and InuYasha having been a delinquent for the past four hundred years, only doing what he had to and spending the rest of his life on the battlefield… _

_The last time that InuYasha had seen his brother, it had been in the fight against the Higure, a demon war which promised to be the last one for a good while. InuYasha didn't want to brag, but a good portion of their victory went right to him. If Kagome had been alive, she could have stopped the war before it ever began. She was just diplomatic in a way that InuYasha and Sesshomaru weren't. Even Kagura, who could negotiate ridiculously well, just didn't have the straight up honesty and kindness that made people naturally trust Kagome. _

_So for some reason, for some sick twist of fate, it was InuYasha watching his older brother get ready to be married, instead of the other way around. _

"_Have you done anything with your life since the war?" Sesshomaru asked, breaking InuYasha's reverie and guessing the subject that he had been pondering on._

_InuYasha shrugged casually, "Not really," he replied honestly, "Sort of been around, going places, seeing sights, that sort of thing," It was an answer without being an answer, which was the only sort of response that InuYasha seemed to give nowadays. "Didn't really want to come back to Japan." Too many bad memories._

"_You could always work for me," Sesshomaru suggested calmly, although InuYasha could tell that he was being dead serious. "Overseas of course. You would not have to return to Japan."_

_Opening his mouth to reply with a snarky insult and a comment about how InuYasha didn't work and that it was a really stupid idea, InuYasha found a flash of doubt enter his mind and heard himself saying, "Yeah. Why not?"_

_x.x.x.x_

_True to Sesshomaru's word, it was a little less than a hundred years before InuYasha had to return to Japan. InuYasha didn't want to return. Not only did the place hold bad memories, but he didn't trust himself to do the right thing. If he returned to early, and saw a young Kagome on the streets, or a young Kagome going to school, or walked past the family shrine and saw a young Kagome filling up an ugly yellow backpack and walk towards the well house, InuYasha didn't know what he would do. He knew, in the sane and rational part of his mind, that he had to let the past happen, he had to let Kagome go to the fight to stop Naraku and save the world. _

_That knowledge didn't mean it was an easy choice. _

_InuYasha knew that he would stop Kagome if he saw her. So he had been annoyed the whole plane ride here, the whole car ride, the whole business meeting, the whole freaking time. In a sick and twisted and morose and horrible way, InuYasha felt a tiny part of him be glad that this was three years after when he had traveled to this time, just so that he didn't destroy the world by stopping Kagome._

_He stopped through the house, throwing his business jacket off and tossing it into some corner somewhere. Kicking the door to the garage open, InuYasha grabbed his leather jacket off a peg on the wall and jumped on his old black motorcycle. He needed to go for a ride to clear his head of Kagome._

_He missed her, he really did._

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_


	41. 41 InuYasha

S-S: I'm not dead! I know it really seemed like I died, but I swear I didn't!

I also don't own InuYasha.

* * *

Kagome stood at the gates of a huge castle, feeling like she wasn't supposed to be there, as the one living person amidst a place where only the now dead had lived, a place designed to kill.

The Yozeme compound was a massive sprawling building that had the look of a thing that had been built for the utmost convenience and fighting perfection, a building that had been designed to outlast a siege, trap an enemy, withstand the most powerful of barrages. Most of the place was only one story high, but there were sections with two stories and three tall towers, two in the front that connected to the gates and one in the back center. Built on the top of the mountain, Kagome knew that if she had the time to climb to the towers, she would be able to see the whole mountain range from up there. The compound was set on the top, a great flat plateau that had been carved out of the mountain peak, set against a great wall of sheer rock.

Tall iron gates would have barred her way into the great castle, only they had rusted from years of standing still. Kagome touched the cold metal and the gate creaked out of the way.

She closed her eyes for a second to help concentrate. There! She could feel two demonic auras approaching, one foul and horrendous, the other familiar and somehow pleasant. Naraku and InuYasha. And to her dismay, Naraku was closer than InuYasha was.

Kagome snapped her eyes open and ran inside the compound, shutting the gate behind her and pressing her palms onto the metal, channeling purifying energy into it like she would into an arrow. When she removed her hands, the metal faintly glowed in the dreary light. That might keep Naraku out for a little while.

Turning around, she ran up the gravel path and slammed open the first door that she came to. Inside the compound, all the rooms seemed to be the same. The floors were covered in tatami mats, the walls made of wood or paper screens, and there was a perpetual air hovering over the place that clearly told Kagome it was not happy at being disturbed after such a long time of being left to rot.

"Now… how to activate the traps…" Kagome muttered to herself as she walked swiftly through the rooms.

Then her foot landed on a mat and the floor beneath that foot suddenly gave way, the square of wood falling into a dark pit before crashing against something sharp. Kagome gulped painfully and stepped away from the hole in the floor.

A trap! Oh god, how could _she _even survive this, let alone try to use the compound's secrets against Naraku! It all seemed so hopeless for a moment and then her eyes fell on a small triangle marking near the hole. What had there been about triangles? A triad? That was it! The three families, united under the Higure's rule. Three families. One triangle.

Kagome looked around the hallway and now that she knew what to look for, she suddenly found dozens of small triangles everywhere. Next to levers on walls, crevices in the wood that were cunningly disguised to conceal ropes, hidden partially under tatami mats… everywhere! No wonder no one had ever lived here permanently, this place was armed to the teeth! A person could not walk from one end of a hall to the other without at least seven attempts on their life.

Which was absolutely perfect.

Kagome carefully made her way to a large storeroom at the back of the hall. Keeping both eyes on the lookout for triangle markings, she gave the screen door a hard push and shoved it open. Inside was row after row of weapons, gleaming and polished, racks of tiny knives with almost invisible points, swords on stands that held no layer of dust. And what Kagome was looking for, bows and arrows.

She reached to the nearest shelf and grabbed a handful of arrows, filling her quiver up to the brim with arrows. Then for good measure, she slung a second quiver over her back where it rested against her shoulder blade, awkwardly long and out of place in comparison to her own one.

Slamming the door shut, she turned around and ran to the nearest set of stairs.

Naraku was on his way and she wanted to have a high-up view point from which to see the fight.

* * *

Tall gates barred Naraku's way.

So this had been the place that his enemies had been heading to. Pointless of course, there was no palace that he could not destroy, no building that would never fall to sheer force. However, the fact the sprawling palace was so high in the mountains and so inaccessible worried him slightly. Why build a palace on the top of a mountain? If an army attacked, there would be nowhere to retreat to. And why had that damn Kagome come here? She had not seemed like the sort of person to run and hide.

His answer came to him when he tried to take a step closer.

The gates burned upon his very presence, spiritual energy roaring to life to put up a temporary barrier. Naraku scoffed. Did the girl think that this could possibly stop him? True, there was no way that he could touch that metal without being unscathed, but this convenient sword of his was the barrier necessary between him and Kagome's purification energy.

With a single slash of diamond, Naraku severed the gates in half. The heavy beams of iron clattered to the ground on either side of him, now useless.

Then something twanged the edges of his senses and he leapt to the right just in time.

A glowing arrow embedded itself into the ground where he had just been standing a moment ago. He whirled around to face the direction the arrow had come from. At the top of one of the high towers, there was a flash of movement behind a slit in the stone wall that had specifically been designed for archers. Then the shadow of a person vanished.

Two seconds later, a bright purple and pink glowing stone that was twice the size of Naraku was flung towards him from a well-disguised catapult. The stone split the ground and burned in its crater, leaving Naraku to seethe.

That damn human woman! So this had been her plan all along! A mountain fortress outfitted for war. But how did she know about this place, it was too new for it to have been around five hundred years ago when she was in the feudal era and from what Naraku had learned, InuYasha or his brother had never been to a place like this. But the Higure girl might have known… or it was the dead Yozeme. The dead Yozeme, it must have been, she had been the one to suggest this mountain to InuYasha. This compound must have been her clan's.

There was the creak of metal and gears and then the ground split open in front of Naraku, like two planes of earth just falling aside and revealing a deep dark pit into the mountain. Had Naraku been standing naught two steps forward, he would have fallen into that hole that was likely filled with spears at the bottom.

"Damn her…" he muttered, angry to all the hells at this stupid human girl. If he could just cut right through that damn fortress the girl would be done for. His arm twitched as he raised the diamond blade, "That girl is done for…"

In a flash, the Tetsusaiga sliced through the center of Naraku's body.

"As if I'd ever let you hurt Kagome!" InuYasha yelled, cutting off Naraku's head in one fell swoop. Now, if he could just keep cutting, he could cut up Naraku's whole body into tiny little pieces and drag out his heart from his flesh if InuYasha had to.

And then out poured the miasma.

Huge clouds of black and dark and purple poured from Naraku's body until the air was so thick with darkness that InuYasha could barely see the bastard's corpse. Of course, now InuYasha would have to start cutting him up all over again, cutting and cutting and cutting until Naraku finally stopped regenerating his wounds and died. InuYasha coughed on the miasma and a lightning thought went through his head.

Castle walls would do nothing to stop Kagome from chocking on the miasma.

"Kagome?!" He cried, slicing the Tetsusaiga through the smoke, unleashing wind scars in every direction to try and clear away the miasma. A path would be cleared by the attack and InuYasha would catch a glimpse of snow or rock and then the miasma would pour back in and he would have to try again. "Kagome, where are you!? Are you okay!?" InuYasha screamed, rubbing his nose to try and smell the direction she was in.

He slammed the Tetsusaiga onto the ground and the light of the wind scar picked up again before the futile attack vanished. "KAGOME!"

In the darkness of the miasma, InuYasha could have sworn he heard Naraku laughing.

Then a beam of bright pink light shot straight through the clouds of blackness. An arrow lodged itself into the ground at InuYasha's feet and the miasma recoiled from the path of the arrow like shadows away from the sun. InuYasha's amber eyes followed the path of light out of the miasma.

Kagome was standing at a window in one of the castle towers, her bow in hand and her fingers skillfully notching another arrow, "InuYasha!" she cried, "I'm fine! I can clear away the miasma for now! Try to dodge the rocks!"

As InuYasha breathed a heavy sigh of relief from knowing that Kagome was safe – for the moment – and unharmed – though not for long – he failed to understand her warning. Dodge the rocks? What did that mean? Then his question was answered when ten giant boulders, each glowing with Kagome's spiritual energy, flew through the sky.

InuYasha leapt to the right and rolled away from a huge chunk of rock that hit the ground where he had been standing not a moment ago. A grin split his face when he realized what Kagome was doing. The Yozeme's castle of course! She must have found the way to activate all the traps that had been hidden inside and was adding her purification energy to them. So what if ten giant rocks would do nothing against a demon? If Kagome could purify all of those rocks, then that could clear away the miasma!

Naraku's laughing stopped. InuYasha caught sight of the damn spider and lifted the Tetsusaiga up to rush the damn bastard and cut him open.

Then Naraku vanished.

A second later, a booming explosion rocked the mountain, coming right from the direction of the tower Kagome had been standing in. Like a surreal movie, the tower collapsed, the huge stones and wood beams that made up the tower flying everywhere without rhyme or reason.

A high pitched scream ripped through the air and in a second InuYasha was running to catch Kagome as she fell from the ruins of the tower.

He threw himself into the air and grabbed Kagome mid-fall before they both crashed into the ruined stone walls of what was left of the compound. InuYasha was banged up and his haori was torn, but he was fine. Kagome on the other hand was clutching her ankle as she winced in pain.

"Kagome, are you okay?" InuYasha asked, standing up and leaning down to help her up.

She nodded, but as soon as she put pressure on her ankle, a noticeable flinch went up her spine "I just busted up my ankle," she said, trying to make it all better with just words, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

InuYasha looked in her eyes and he saw that she wasn't just suggesting that, she was ordering it. She was as serious about this fight as he was, and she didn't even have her memories from five hundred years ago back. But her friends had been killed in front of her – again, though she didn't know it – and she was out for righteous vengeance. Just like InuYasha. He knew her well enough by this point. Even if he told her to take it easy or stay out of a direct fight, she wouldn't listen. "Stubborn woman…" he muttered under his breath, although he found that it wasn't an insult any more.

"You know it," Kagome said with a faint smile as she grabbed her bow and retrieved an arrow from her quiver, "Now let's- INUYASHA LOOK OUT!"

Just in time, InuYasha lifted the Tetsusaiga to stop the sudden strike from Naraku's blade.

There was a loud and painful screech of diamond on steel fang. The violent grating and grinding echoed in InuYasha's poor ears, "You're pretty god damn annoying, aint ya?" InuYasha spat at Naraku, his hands shaking from the pressure of holding up his blade.

"The feeling is mutual," Naraku snarled, his hand pulsating and sending spikes of root or bone at InuYasha's head.

In a flash, InuYasha turned on the spot and dropped, executing a sweeping kick that was intended to send Naraku tumbling over his feet. The demon jumped backwards and all InuYasha could see was the diamond blade catch the light reflected off the snow before his vision was obscured by miasma.

That miasma of Naraku's was really annoying. It choked the world with its impure foulness and it had killed Sango and Miroku before, it had turned them into nothing but dust and bones stripped clean of flesh. It was disgusting and filthy and Naraku kept using it like a smoke screen. Like it was just there to block InuYasha's line of sight and not a deadly weapon. Naraku was trying to trap them like last time. just like last time, he used miasma to stop them from seeing his position. Only this time, there was no Kohaku to distract the others from the fight.

He turned to Kagome, "In a minute, you've got to clear a path to Naraku with your arrows, okay?" he said, pulling off his red haori, leaving him only in a white kimono top, "Here," he handed it to her, "It's made from the fur of the fire rat. It'll be stronger than armor. If you can pick out Naraku, then I want you to shoot at him, even if I'm in the way. Got it?"

Kagome pulled on the haori and let it cover her hair, just like she had when she would wear it five hundred years ago, "I got it," she whispered. But she didn't tell InuYasha that she would not shoot him. She wouldn't. She couldn't.

"Right. Shoot Naraku." InuYasha ordered a moment later, raising the Tetsusaiga.

She drew her bow back, feeling the tension along the string and into the wood, feeling the way that the power gathered into the wooden arrow. This was her power. This was why Kagome was a fighter. This was how she got her revenge. A heavy breath left her at the same time her fingers released the arrow, sending the bright beam of light streaking through the dark miasma and ripping the clouds away.

Through the path cleared by the arrow, InuYasha caught sight of the diamond blade glistening and he ran after it, running into the miasma. Running away from Kagome.

A moment later, there was the sound of clashing blades again, InuYasha and Naraku fighting each other off.

Kagome notched another arrow and hurried after InuYasha.

As soon as she began to move, aching pain shot through her leg, her ankle loudly protesting. She ignored it. Her ankle didn't matter, because in the grand scheme of things, it was only an ankle. She knew that she had to keep moving, had to go after InuYasha before something bad happened. Because something bad had happened before, only she didn't really remember.

The miasma was lie a huge sea of darkness, constantly whirling and moving and swirling, dark tendrils of smoke except not smoke because they had substance and could kill. Kagome felt chills run down her spine and she hugged the coat InuYasha gave her closer. It was like the darkness was trying to swallow her up.

Her hands stilled on the hem of the coat. This was why she could still breath. Her miko powers and this haori were the only things keeping her safe from the miasma and an unpleasant death by choking and then being turned to ash. It was unfair. If Suki had miko powers, she would have been able to purify the miasma and live. If Sango and Miroku had miko powers, they would have been able to run away and stay safe. If and only if and if it wasn't too late already.

There were two dots in the miasma, a dot she loved and a dot that she hated. They weren't visible dots, but she could see them if she looked hard enough.

She raised her bow and aimed for the point of hatred.

Once she fired her arrow, she saw Naraku through the miasma, turn and glare at her as he dodged the arrow at the last moment. Then InuYasha lunged towards him and the miasma returned, sweeping in like a great entity.

Something sliced at Kagome's arm, leaving a long cut on her exposed skin that held the bow. Naraku smirked as he flicked the blood off of the diamond blade.

"You're not powerful, no matter what you think," he said angrily, "And even that haori can't keep you safe forever."

"DIE!" Kagome screamed, her mind filled with smiling faces turned to bones and ash and dead bodies all because of the vile demon standing in front of her. She loosed another arrow that blew off Naraku's shoulder.

The diamond flashed, and Naraku made to strike. InuYasha leapt out of the miasma, brandishing the Tetsusaiga and blocking Naraku's attack, "You won't hurt her!" he yelled, slicing Naraku in two.

Kagome stumbled backwards, clutching her arm and then the miasma swallowed her sight again.

Pain burned through her shoulder and up to her head but it was dulled by adrenaline and this thirst for revenge and justice that burned through Kagome stronger than the pain. Blood, warm wet red blood ran through her fingers from the gash and down her arm, dripping into the snow.

Her good arm went to her quiver and pulled out another arrow as she walked forward, desperately trying to find InuYasha.

Blood.

She was stepping in blood.

_She was standing, blood under her feet, horrible stench of the dead like iron, filled with something else like darkness. _

_She knew what would happen, this had happened before, but she couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't try and do anything. She was stuck, having to do what she had done before. _

_Block out the screams. Don't think about them. Dont think about how they tug on her heart so hard that it's like pain and how they make her want to cry because she knows who's screaming and she wants to stop it but she can't. Ignore the cloud of darkness closing in on her trying to swallow her and ohmygodshewasgoingtodiecould n'tbreathecouldn'tbreathe. Where was silver?! _

_She had to have silver, there needed to be silver, where was silver?! If silver had showed up, then those people wouldn't scream! If silver showed up then Kagome wouldn't be stepping in blood! _

Her mind screamed. What was happening!? What was going on?!

Why did she feel like she knew this, like she could see every step she made before it happened, like this was all so familiar?!

Little pieces of information filtered through her brain as she remembered something InuYasha had once said about Naraku. The bastard had a thing for the theatrical, he liked to make people dance to his own twisted little tune and play with people's emotions and actions like a puppet master. She knew what this was like because this had happened before. This had happened before, she knew it, she could remember it, not much but a little and she could feel the part of her that kept the rest of her locked up begin to break.

There had been miasma, so much miasma that none of them could see each other anymore. Sango and Miroku and Shippo, all scattered, InuYasha, scattered.

_A huge, constantly moving sea of darkness. Surrounding her. Trying to swallow her. Swirling and getting darker and more foul, more disgusting and impure every second. She was standing in the center, but she was supposed to be running but her feet couldn't move and there was no red, and there wasn't any silver-_

Kagome had ran, she had shot an arrow at Naraku, she had shot another arrow again but that arrow had been too late.

In the real time, in the world that existed in the here-now of life, Naraku threw InuYasha off him and turned to Kagome. Kagome only saw that partly. The other half of her mind was looking onto the past.

There was InuYasha's scream to duck and Kagome turned and ran, ran as fast as she could, because when InuYasha said duck she didn't question. She forgot she couldn't run and fell flat on her face before she picked herself up off the ground and limped away as fast she could. A thousand tiny deadly sharps of glittering diamond blazed behind her.

Her fingers gripped the wood of her bow and the fletching of the arrow with tight conviction. She felt horrible, deep down in the pit of her mind and her stomach and her heart, a deep pit of fear because something was wrong, horribly, deadly, dangerously wrong and she had to find out what it was before it happened. If only she could remember, if only she had been brave enough to remember all those years ago, if only, if only.

Then there was Naraku behind her and she turned.

_There, at the end of the darkness, she saw the someone that she hated. She drew what she now knew was her bow and pulled back the string before she let it go in a burst of bright light. Bright purple light. Like the jewel around her neck._

Kagome loosed the arrow.

Bright purple pink light, ripping apart the miasma, tearing towards Naraku, aggravating him but not injuring him, and as if Kagome's hands knew this, they grabbed another arrow.

Naraku discarded his sword, throwing his left hand towards Kagome.

Dark heavy thick roots made of bone and something else demonic moved towards Kagome. Too fast.

Her fingers released the arrow and her feet tried to move.

_Something is coming towards her. Fast. She let go of the string. The something doesn't stop coming. It's closer now, too close and too late because her arrow has hit the someone but the something must not know that. _

Kagome felt her feet move backwards, but she knew that it was too slow and that she would not be able to move away in time. The spear of bone reflected in her eyes for a moment, in that desperate moment when Kagome struggled to move faster than she was able.

She wasn't going to make it.

_Why isn't there any silver?_

No! She wasn't done yet! She didn't want to die! She still had to kill Naraku! She still had to live with InuYasha!

Something not fast enough and yet faster than anything flashed through her vision. The spear of bone hit flesh.

_More blood. _

And Kagome saw silver.

…

…

…

"_**INUYASHA!**_"


	42. 42 Silver

S-S: Fuck it. Last chapter. I _own_ InuYasha. *runs from lawyers*

* * *

She had failed.

Ichida knew deep down that she had been nothing more than a failure, just someone unable to save the people she cared about. Naraku's quick defeat of her made that apparent. And Ichida hadn't even been able to save Chimaki. Her last seconds of life were filled with naught but regrets and a deep hatred of herself coursing through her. How dare she fail? How dare she let Chimaki die, the one person she swore on her life and on her everything to protect?

And then Ichida breathed again.

She remembered not being able to breath. She remembered dying.

But why was there still a part of her to remember all that if she was dead? Didn't the dead not remember? Or was she a soul or something?

Her fingers moved and she felt her chest gasping for air, her mouth panting, taking in deep gulps of precious, precious air. Her bright green eyes snapped open and she realized that for some reason she lived again.

"Try to steady your breathing," a very familiar voice told her, cool as ever, "You've lost a lot of blood and you need to slow down your heart rate."

Slowly, deliberately, Ichida took lighter breaths of air. When she finally could breathe without gasping, she looked up, "What- I don't understand? Wasn't I dead? And why are you here? I thought you left with Kagura?"

Sesshomaru nodded, and only then did Ichida noticed that he held a sword unsheathed in his hand, "I did. Kagura is waiting at the base of the mountain. I came to see if there was anything that I could do," he glanced toward the mountain top as if looking for something. Ichida slowly felt out two auras on the peak, right where she knew Tsubaki's family compound was. "Apparently I was too late."

Too late? What did too late mean? A person that could resurrect the dead could never be too late. Ichida was about to ask what on earth that meant when one of the auras on the top of the mountain vanished. Not teleportation, moved too fast, left Ichida's range, vanished. Dead vanished. And if Ichida couldn't sense Naraku… "But can't you just bring them back!?" she demanded.

Sesshomaru glared at her from the corner of his eye, "If I could do such a thing don't you think I would have done it already?!" he snapped.

"I don't understand!" Ichida said, trying to think, trying to tell if it was InuYasha or Kagome who still lived and getting more and more depressed as each second went by that her friends were dead, "You… you resurrected me, right? So bring them all back."

"I can't," he said quietly, and Ichida realized that he wasn't angry with her anymore he was sad about something else, "The Tensaiga has limits. I cannot resurrect someone who's body is destroyed. Your friend, the Higure girl and the Yozeme, I can't bring them back. I can tell from what's left of their scents that they are dead, but there are no bodies. And I cannot resurrect the same person twice. Which means…" he turned away from the mountain, "I cannot bring back InuYasha."

"But," he walked towards the dead form of Chimaki, "I can do this."

Metal flashed as he sliced the blade over Chimaki's body, like cutting something invisible that only he could see.

And then Chimaki's bright red eyes sapped open.

She didn't move, she barely even breathed. Her whole body shook, so little that even Ichida's eyes could barely see how hard she was trembling. Chimaki's hand tightened around a twin hand made of only bones that Ichida struggled to realize was all that was left of Suki. When Chimaki finally spoke, it wasn't good, "… nee-san…" she muttered.

Ichida limped towards Chimaki, trying to think of something to say to comfort her, "Chimaki-chan… Suki… she's…" she struggled to make out.

"Dead," Chimaki said in the quiet and almost mystical voice of hers, "Suki-nee-san and Tsubaki-san aren't here anymore," she focused intently on a nonexistent point in the distance, "So were you Ichida-san. But the messengers were cut down, and we were allowed to return. They had nowhere to return to. Suki-nee and Tsubaki-san had to stay behind. On the other side," she suddenly turned to Sesshomaru, "I apologize. Death places limits on tools of resurrection."

And somehow Ichida knew that Chimaki was speaking of the Tensaiga's power to only save someone once and she knew that Chimaki was apologizing for InuYasha. How Chimaki knew though, Ichida was clueless.

* * *

_No. No. No. No._

Kagome watched, unable to move, unable to think, unable to do anything except watch like the helpless fool that she knew she was.

InuYasha collapsed to the ground.

There was screaming, echoing in Kagome's ears as she tried to hold on to InuYasha only she knew that she was only holding on to a body and not InuYasha because his eyes looked so dead and yet she knew he had been there a second ago, and it took her so long to realize that the pained and tortured screams she heard were her own.

There was so much blood. Blood everywhere. Silver stained red until Kagome can't tell the difference even though she knew she had to.

"InuYasha." She muttered to herself, over and over again in the hope that he would hear his name being called and return to her, even though she knows somewhere inside that logical part of her mind that it is hopeless.

"InuYasha. InuYasha. InuYasha."

Tears rolled down her cheeks and burned her cold skin and fell onto InuYasha's face as she held him close. Something inside her broke into a thousand tiny sharp slivers that dug into her heart and ripped at her soul.

And the Shikon jewel around Kagome's neck glowed.

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

"_Listen you!" Kagome yelled to the boy that was pinned to the tree, even though every bit of logic her mind had retained was telling her that a boy pinned to a tree with an arrow could not be talking. "I don't know who this 'Kikyo' is, except that she's not me!"_

_He didn't seem to believe her, "Do you expect me to believe that I wouldn't know the stench of the girl who-!" he paused as he seemed to realize something, "You-" he leaned closer a little and sniffed her, like the dog that his ears suggested he was, "You're not her." _

_Finally! "Get it now?" Kagome said forcefully, "My name's Kagome! Ka! Go! Me!"_

* * *

"_You mean…" Kagome felt like crying because it was just such a hard thing to comprehend, "You're giving up?" How could he give up now!? His crazy physco brother had turned into a giant dog, and InuYasha was giving up now? What happened to all of InuYasha's talk, all his rude attitude? How could he give up?_

_He looked so taken back that Kagome had to wonder if there were real tears falling down her face and if that was the one thing that made InuYasha turn into a melting pot of pity, "Stop that now!" he ordered, panicking a little._

"_Y-You said I shouldn't be-" Kagome tried to protest._

"_Shut up!" InuYasha yelled, although he wasn't angry at her, "I meant, let me protect you, you hear!?"_

_Protect her? Kagome knew that she should have given him a rant on woman being independent of men in her modern age and how archaic it was to say that she needed protecting but she just couldn't bring her to say it. _

_Because whether or not she needed it, InuYasha wanted to protect her. And the wanting was enough._

* * *

"_You think you can make Kagome your mate!?" InuYasha sputtered angrily at Koga, "You'll die for that!"_

_It was silly and childish and immature of him, but Kagome felt strangely happy knowing that InuYasha cared enough to defend her like that._

* * *

_A deep hurt slowly ate away at Kagome's heart. Like poison or acid, so bitter and painful that she thought she could not bear it even if she tried to. But she had to think about it. She had to what she was going to do. _

_InuYasha still loved Kikyo. He wasn't going to leave her alone, he had said as much to Kagome himself. If InuYasha loved Kikyo, then there really was no place for Kagome back in that time. She had no reason to return there anymore. Kikyo was a better priestess than she was, Kikyo could take her spot to hunt down Naraku, all Kagome had to do was return the Shikon shards to her and then Kagome could live her normal boring life without interruptions. There was no longer a place for her in the feudal era. There was no place for Kagome in InuYasha's heart. And it was the last of those realizations that hurt Kagome the most. _

_But if Kagome returned the jewel shards to InuYasha, she would never be able to see him again. _

_She knew it was selfish and despicable, but she didn't think she could do that. _

_Whatever the reasons there were for the two of them to meet, they had met. There was no changing that now. Kagome could not pretend it had not happened and return to a normal life. Kikyo or not, a part of Kagome's heart rested in the feudal era now. _

_Kagome placed her hand on the smooth and yet rough wood of the Goshinboku and wondered for a moment why she had been fated to meet InuYasha in that exact same spot, five hundred years ago. Her heart hurt so much. If it was so painful, if knowing InuYasha was so painful, then would it not be for the best if they had never met at all?_

_But she couldn't help it. _

_She wanted to see InuYasha. Even just one last time, she just wanted to see him._

* * *

_Her vision blurred and she knew that she was crying. Somehow, without her really knowing, she had fallen in love with InuYasha so deeply that she had left her heart with him. _

_It was a cool summer's night as InuYasha and Kagome stayed up late. Miroku and Sango had fallen asleep an hour ago and Shippo had been practically dead since he crawled into his nest of blankets. Kagome tucked her knees closer to her body and tried to scoot closer towards the fire without InuYasha noticing and demanding to know if she was too cold or not. _

"_Hey InuYasha?" she asked, thinking about the tiny sliver of jewel she had in a bottle and the huge chunk Naraku had in his possession, "When we complete the Shikon jewel… do you still want to use it to become all demon?"_

_He stayed silent for a long time, and she knew that he was also thinking about the many times when his demonic blood had taken control and he had become like an animal. That had been his goal from the very beginning, and the two of them knew that. But they both also knew that things had changed, between them, and between InuYasha and his more demonic side. And Kagome knew deep in her heart that if InuYasha still wanted to be all demon when they got the jewel back, that she would grant his wish._

"_I don't know," he finally answered, sounding not like a powerful half demon, or even like any sort of demon at all. He sounded like a lost child that was just too confused to tell. "I really don't know Kagome."_

* * *

_"InuYasha," Kagome said quietly as she held his clawed hand, "I know that you're sad about Kikyo's death. I'm really sorry,"_

_InuYasha's hand tightened around hers and Kagome leaned against his shoulder._

"_But it doesn't change what I said to you. I'm going to stay by your side."_

* * *

_InuYasha's arm wrapped around her and she pressed her mouth against his, trying to tell him that she really truly loved him._

_And InuYasha kissed her back._

* * *

_And then Kagome stood in a cloud of dark miasma and all she could see was silver._

_Silver and blood._

_And her heart shattered._

_*f*l*a*s*h*b*a*c*k*_

Kagome felt like screaming.

Her head hurt. Her heart hurt. So much pain that she wanted to die from how much it hurt and how much it felt as though she was being ripped apart when in reality she was being put back together. The voices in her head screamed until they vanished and she knew that they had returned to her mind as memories.

She remembered.

She remembered _everything_.

InuYasha died in her head a thousand times before her stunned eyes and she tried to tell herself that it wasn't real but she knew it was because she could feel the life leaving his bloodied body that she held in her frail arms.

It was like a heavy pit had been ripped open in her heart and she knew that she could never feel light or happy again. InuYasha was dead.

She leaned her head over his and kissed him on his bloodied lips. "I love you…" she murmured softly, hoping with everything in her that InuYasha would wake up and be all right, "I love you InuYasha. I always have. I always will. Forever. I love you…"

"How sweet."

_NARAKU!_

Kagome felt rage burn like a wildfire inside her, so much hate she could do nothing more with it except unleash it and destroy. Her body shook from sorrow and rage and she heard Naraku take slow proud steps towards her.

Her head didn't move, but she saw Naraku approach from her peripheral vision. Saw him raise that diamond blade. Her vision turned red, red like InuYasha's blood.

"You are pathetic," Naraku sneered, taking careful measured steps closer to Kagome even though she felt like he couldn't attack her soon enough, "Always relying on InuYasha to save you. Well," he chuckled, "He did. And look at how weak you really are. You can't even move from fear."

His footsteps stopped and Kagome knew that he was right next to her. Right next to InuYasha. Her hands became fists and her fingers were dripping with InuYasha's blood. He would pay. Naraku would pay. She would kill him if it was the last thing she ever did.

Naraku raised his blade, like an executioner perfectly poised to drop the blade and take Kagome's head.

_She would kill him. _

_He killed InuYasha._

Kagome screamed, her bloody hands grabbing the handle of the Tetsusaiga as the blade glowed and transformed, thinking InuYasha was wielding it.

In a flash, she stabbed Naraku through the chest.

Naraku reached for the Shikon Jewel around her neck.

The jewel glowed.

And then everything went white.

* * *

_After an eternity that spanned a second, Kagome opened her eyes._

_She was surrounded by darkness, but it wasn't miasma. It was like her dreams. _

_Where was she? She wasn't asleep. Could she be dead? The thought did not scare her, and she even felt as though she would welcome the feeling. Because InuYasha was dead too._

_A figure stepped out of the darkness. _

_It was a woman, dressed in the traditional red and white garb of a miko with the armor of a samurai over her. She carried a sword at her hip and her long dark hair fell down her back in a perfect sheet. Her brown eyes smiled at Kagome with a deep kindness, "Hello my dear," she said, and for a moment Kagome could have sworn that the woman was her own mother, even though such a thing wasn't true._

"_Who are you?" Kagome asked, looking around and thinking that she knew the woman, "Where am I? What happened to Naraku? To InuYasha?"_

_The woman's smile did not vanish, "I think that you can answer all those questions on your own, Kagome," and then she pointed a slender dainty finger at Kagome's neck._

_Kagome reached to her neck but found no comfort in the Shikon jewel. Wherever she was, the jewel had not come with her and for a fleeting moment of panic she thought that Naraku had it, and then she remembered where she thought she had seen the woman before and she knew the answers. "Hello Midoriko."_

_Midoriko beamed at her, "It is good to finally speak with you Kagome," she clasped her hands together like a school teacher, "Now, can you figure out where you are and what happened?" It was like a riddle with her, and she expected Kagome to be clever enough to figure it out._

_Watching the smile on her face and looking all around her, Kagome finally said, "I think… that we're inside the jewel."_

_Proud, Midoriko nodded slowly and motioned for her to continue, "And how would you have ended up inside the jewel?" she prompted. _

_Kagome had no idea. "I don't know."_

"_Think. How did the jewel get formed?" Midoriko's eyes gleamed as she tied to get Kagome to figure out the riddle._

_Reciting what she knew from memory, Kagome said, "You absorbed the energy of a great demon into yourself and then expelled that energy-" understanding came to her, "You mean I sucked Naraku's energy and my energy into the jewel? But I can't do something like that!"_

_Midoriko sighed, "Ah Kagome. You can. You did. And now you and Naraku are inside the jewel, although he is not here and is elsewhere in the great and non-ending abyss that is the Shikon-jewel."_

"_I thought-" Kagome almost didn't ask because it seemed like a silly question, "I thought this place was filled with all the souls of the demons you fought. Where are they? Shouldn't we have to be fighting?"_

_Midoriko's laugh was like a bell chime, "Oh Kagome, you miss the obvious. Your mind has one of the strongest mental barriers I have ever seen. We are, in a sense, still inside your mind, despite being inside the Shikon jewel. Once you remove the barrier, the demons will swarm, yes."_

"_And-" Kagome tried to ask without thinking because thinking hurt too much, "And InuYasha?"_

_There was no reply._

"_I see." Kagome whispered. _

"_Death can be a difficult thing to accept," Midoriko said softly, "And I know that it can't be easy for you to think of anything but getting your revenge."_

"_Stop patronizing me," Kagome bit out, "I can think perfectly clear. Naraku will die. That's all that matters."_

_Midoriko nodded, "I know. And you're right. If he is not stopped then the whole world will fall. However, we have the advantage. You trapped Naraku's soul inside the jewel. For the moment he is stopped. But…"_

"_If the jewel is not destroyed, then Naraku or no Naraku, someone else will come along and take the jewel and another Naraku will be created," Kagome finished, coming to the inevitable realization, "The jewel needs to be destroyed, doesn't it?"_

"_Yes," she confirmed, "I have been hoping for a very long time that you would succeed."_

"_Succeed at what?" Kagome asked, because it seemed like such a strange thing to desire. _

"_Why at destroying the jewel of course," Midorki answered as if it was obvious._

_That only served to confuse Kagome further, "But if we destroy the jewel, won't you die?"_

"_Kagome," Midoriko countered, "If we destroy the jewel, you will die as well. Your body, Naraku's body, and even what is left of InuYasha, all will be caught in the likely blast. I have been ready to die for hundreds of years. It is you I would be worried about."_

"_I don't care," Kagome said. "If it will save the world, I'll do anything."_

_Midoriko looked at Kagome and then it seemed as though she looked deeper into Kagome than was possible, "You are very brave."_

_Kagome shook her head, "Brave doesn't matter. I just have to destroy the jewel. If I destroy the jewel, then I destroy Naraku right? But I don't… I don't know how to destroy the jewel," It was a puzzle bigger than anything she had ever solved, and from the look in Midoriko's face, it seemed as though the older woman had no ideas either, "If I hadn't made a wish to forget," Kagome began, listing off possibilities, "Then I could have wished for it to vanish. But I can't do that obviously. The jewel can't be destroyed from the outside, so we can destroy it from the inside."_

"_But the jewel is made of demonic energy and miko energy," Midoriko acknowledged, "If we attempt to attack it, our attacks will prove useless."_

_Demonic and miko energy. _

_That was it._

"_The jewel," Kagome said, almost as a gasp because she could see an answer in sight, "The jewel is made of demonic and spiritual energies. But the two are in constant opposition, that's how the jewel can be purified and defiled, based on the intentions of the user. It doesn't matter how foul or how pure the jewel gets, it won't be destroyed. The two forces are always in opposition, and opposites will always fight."_

_Midoriko frowned, "Yes, that's why I have been in a constant battle with the demons in the jewel. But Kagome, even when the whole jewel has been purified, I have not stopped fighting them."_

_Kagome nodded, thinking faster than ever, "Yes! That's it. In order to destroy the jewel, the battle has to stop. You can't have the jewel in an extreme, neither extremely pure or extremely foul. The two forces inside the jewel have to be negated. It's like chemistry. A powerful acid and a powerful base can be combined to form water. You just have to combine the demonic energy and the miko energy in the jewel and then both forces will be negated. The jewel would cease to exist without the energies inside it!"_

"_That's brilliant!" Midoriko exclaimed, and then her face fell, "But impossible. If I lay down arms, then the demons will win and the jewel will turn foul. And there is no way for the demons to give up. We would need something in the middle, a force that could turn the energies together."_

"_I know," Kagome said, "I can break down the barrier of my mind. The demons will attack you and you will attack them. In the middle will be me. I'll take both the energies into my mind and negate them."_

_Midoriko paused, "But you will die."_

"_I know," she repeated, "As I said before, it doesn't matter whether I live or die."_

_The older priestess did not seem to fully understand, "But Kagome, you are still young. There is a whole life ahead of you. If you leave the jewel, surely we can find another way."_

"_There is no other way," Kagome countered, speaking from her heart and soul and telling the entire truth, "Midoriko, my friends are dead. My friends from the feudal era died in front of me and my friends from this era were killed the same way, each time victims of Naraku. The man I loved with all my heart died to save me. I will not stop until I kill Naraku, not just out of vengeance, but because there is nothing left for me to go back to."_

_Midoriko stepped backwards and drew her sword, "Then do it."_

"_Ready?" Kagome reached her hand out and grabbed a fistful of the darkness._

_She nodded, "I always am."_

_And Kagome ripped away the darkness of her mind._

_There was a roar of demons and the hordes swarmed towards Midoriko. Midoriko raised her sword and rushed towards the demons, prepared to continue the violent and pointless battle that she had been living for hundreds of years. _

_But Kagome was in the middle. _

_With her mind, with her energy, she let the demons and Midoriko clash around her and then she grasped onto their energies. She pulled the power into her mind and into her body, feeling the raw power of it, feeling the energies swirl around inside her and fight and clash. _

_And then Kagome pulled out her own energy and used it to merge the two. _

_Part of her mind vaguely remembered the bright explosion of light when she had erased her memories and she recalled the explosion Midoriko had warned her about. This feeling was like nothing she had ever felt before. She could feel the pool of energies inside her grow to encompass the whole jewel and she could feel that if she made the slightest mistake it would all be ruined. So she didn't make a mistake. She just kept combining the energies._

_And then there was the sensation of being ripped apart as the energies became neutral._

_Neither a pure feeling no a foul one. _

_Just an intense feeling. _

_Her body became energy, and that became light, which was Kagome and not Kagome and the light was everything. _

_And then Kagome smiled._

_Before her very eyes, she and the jewel ended._

* * *

Chimaki had stayed on the mountain, and Ichida had stayed with her. She hadn't known why the frailer girl had stayed, but she had had stayed as well because Chimaki was important. And then while Ichida was watching where Chimaki was watching, she knew why Chimaki had stayed.

A beautiful light exploded from the mountain top.

Something white and bright, so bright that it could have blinded her. There were no energies coming from that mountain anymore, Ichida could not sense Kagome or InuYasha. She could only sense a great energy that grew as the light grew and faded as the light faded.

Chimaki smiled as the white light reflected in her red unblinking eyes, "Everything is so simple now," she said calmly, "A wish was granted. Everything became so much easier at the end."

"It is such a beautiful light," Ichida said quietly.

"It is," Chimaki agreed, "A beautiful white light. But…

"Kagome would have called it silver."

* * *

**S-S: The end is finally here! I hope you guys all enjoyed reading Silver as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any questions about anything please don't hesitate to ask, there are no more spoilers to guess and no more plot twists for me to give away. If anyone saw this ending coming (freaking mindreaders…), then give yourself a pat on the back!**

**You've been a great crowd!**


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